Looking from afar at the magnificent profile of the promontory on which Taormina stands, the gaze is captured by the hill above, on which the houses that make up the town of Castelmola can be seen.

This small town still manages to preserve, enclosed in its alleys, the unchanged charm of the ancient that, mixing with the new, give the impression that time has stopped here.

The origins of Castelmola date back to the pre-Hellenic period.

The denomination draws its inspiration from the conformation of the large boulder on which it stands, which recalls a "molar".

The very first settlement, dating back to the Iron Age, a work of the Sicilians, was called Mylai.

In Greek times the town was ruled by Dionisio, tyrant of Syracuse, by Andromaco (who built new fortifications, cisterns and water tanks, thus improving living conditions) and from Gerone, during the First Punic War.

After the Roman and Byzantine dominations, in 902, the Saracens managed to breach the fortifications and devastated the town.

Only the castle resisted the attack of the Moors.

The Arab dominion ended in 1078, with the rise of Roger the Norman who conquered the fortress of Mola.

Ruggero built a new inhabited center around the castle and built the small church of Ss Annunziata, located near the town.

The castle of Mola was for centuries the strongest link in the entire Peloritan defensive chain; today the ruins of the mighty Norman walls remain.

From Castelmola you can feel all the charm of the nearby mountains and the surrounding cliffs.

The landscape is beautiful everywhere and the medieval atmospheres are often remembered by falconry shows.

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