Old Abbey

In the 9th century, because of the frequent Arab raids, the area of the Roman Forum was abandoned and subsequently narrowed to the area between "Porta del Tocco" and "Porta di Mezzo" where, thanks to the aragonese nobility, various palaces and convents were built to embellish the urban layout of the city.

A pre-existing Norman tower, situated on top of the second wall, was remodelled and lightened. To distinguish the two reconstructions, a horizontal band was inserted to prepare the structure above for an upward extension, delimited by three side-by-side mullioned windows creating a display of light and shadow launching the entire monument towards a structural interpretation of Sicilian Gothic.

"Palazzo della Badia Vecchia" (Badia Vecchia Palace), also known as "Badiazza" or "Torre della Badia", is a late fourteenth-century palace, built similarly to other tower-palaces near the city walls (just like "Palazzo Duchi di Santo Stefano"). The front of the palace features a horizontal band adorned with geometric friezes made with white stone on a black pumice background. The palace is then topped by a series of dovetail battlements. In the book "Interpretazioni di Taormina" (Interpretations of Taormina), architect Armando Dillon theorizes that the palace used to be the home of an abbess ("Badessa di Messina"), hence the name "Badia Vecchia".

The sources of this theory are however dubious. According to some scholars, the building is called "Badia Vecchia" because it was supposed to be a "Badia" (Abbey). In 1355, the palace became the home of Mother Abbess Eufemia, Sicily's Kingdom temporary ruler on behalf of her younger brother Federico the IV of Aragon, also known as "The Simple". A known fact is that the building was once used as a residence for important political and religious figures of the city.

This thesis was further supported by two unique artefacts that were found in a well inside the palace: a golden crucifix, now lost, and a small wooden painting depicting the Virgin and the Child with St. John, donated in 1995 by Mrs. De Turcis to Taormina’s government and nowadays preserved in "Sala di Giovanni", inside the former Church of St. Augustine. Some testimonies (A.Calì), alongside some photos (W. Von Gloeden) show how the Abbey was already well into decay as early as 1896, going as far as looking like a run-down building without attics and with several breaches in the masonry. In 1960 the Abbey was acquired by the local government, restored and used in various ways: as a post office and as the Archaeological Museum.

Nowadays the Badia Vecchia is unused.