Places to Meditate near Taormina and Messina: Silence, Faith and Nature

Between Taormina and Messina, within a few kilometres, lie some of the places best suited to silence and prayer in all of Sicily. Shrines overlooking the sea, churches of ancient Basilian monasteries, mountains from which you can see two seas, valleys carved by lava. This is the area where I offer the Christian spiritual days: here are the places we can choose together as destinations.

In and above Taormina

• Shrine of the Madonna della Rocca: a small church partly carved into the rock below the castle on Monte Tauro, arranged in 1640. The walk up from the centre, about half an hour of steps, is a small pilgrimage with views of the Ancient Theatre and Etna.
• Church of San Pancrazio: dedicated to Taormina's first bishop according to tradition, built on the remains of a Greek temple.
• Castelmola: the village above Taormina, with quiet lanes and one of the widest views of the Ionian coast.

More about the city is on the page Spiritual Taormina: saints and churches.

The Basilian churches of the Agrò valley and the Peloritani

• Santi Pietro e Paolo d'Agrò, at Casalvecchio Siculo: the church of an ancient Basilian monastery, mentioned in a privilege of Roger II of 1116 and rebuilt in 1172 by the master builder Gerard the Frank. Its domes and stone-and-brick decoration are among the finest in Norman Sicily.
• Santa Maria di Mili, at Mili San Pietro, south of Messina: founded around 1090 by Count Roger I, who in 1092 had his son Jordan buried there and entrusted it to Basilian monks. A small, recollected church in a valley of the Peloritani.

On the Peloritani mountains

• Shrine of the Madonna di Dinnammare: on top of Monte Dinnammare, 1,130 metres above Messina. The name recalls the "two seas": from up there you can see the Ionian and the Tyrrhenian, the Strait, the Aeolian Islands and Etna. Every year, on the night between 3 and 4 August, a procession climbs on foot from Larderia to the shrine for Mass at dawn.
• The trails of the Peloritani: woods and ridges between Messina and Taormina, suited to slow, silent spiritual walks.

Nature: Alcantara and Etna

• The Alcantara Gorges, a few kilometres from Taormina: a river flowing between basalt walls shaped by lava, within the Alcantara River Park. A place where water and stone invite silence.
• The northern slope of Etna: pine forests, woods and ancient lava flows, in Etna Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

A little further

• Monastery of San Filippo di Fragalà, in the Nebrodi near Frazzanò: founded around 1090 by Count Roger and Adelaide, one of the first great Basilian centres of the Norman age.
• Shrine of Tindari, on the Tyrrhenian coast, with the Black Madonna.

Other places on the island are described on the page Places to meditate in Sicily.

How we experience them

We do not go to these places as tourists but as pilgrims: a prayer on arrival, a time of silence, a psalm or the prayer of the heart, the stories of the saints who lived there. Then the meal prepared together, outdoors when possible. Destinations are agreed each time, according to the season and those taking part.

Opening hours and access to places of worship and parks may change: it is best to check the official websites before going. Enter churches in silence and suitably dressed, without disturbing services.

How to take part

The days take place near Taormina, in Sicily. The places to visit are agreed together each time. There is no overnight stay: we share one day, and in the evening everyone returns to their own home. Hospitality has no price and does not depend on any offering: whoever comes is welcomed for who they are. Everyone contributes as they can: anyone who cannot leave anything is welcomed like everyone else, and takes part by giving a little of their time.

The days are reserved for Catholic and Orthodox Christians, because they are lived in shared prayer. To ask for a date, simply write to me on WhatsApp. The spirit of the days is told in the manifesto of hospitality.

If you would like to know what makes this mission possible, read The circle of love.

Explore the other pages

The days: Christian spiritual days in Sicily · The Philoxenia of Abraham · Spiritual search and finding yourself · Day retreat, silent retreat and pilgrimage: the international names

Spiritual travel in Sicily: Spiritual tourism in Sicily: the guide · Pilgrimage walking routes in Sicily · Holy Week and Easter in Sicily · Religious festivals in Sicily: the calendar · Orthodox pilgrimage in Sicily · Spiritual Nordic walking and ski walking in Sicily

Nature and places: Spiritual Taormina · Spiritual walks in nature · Christian meditation in nature in Sicily · Places to meditate in Sicily

Prayer: Christian asceticism: the spiritual struggle · The prayer of the heart or Jesus Prayer · Hesychasm: the prayer of stillness · The Philokalia: the Neptic Fathers

The saints of Sicily: Byzantine Sicily and the Italo-Greek saints · Saint Hilarion the Great in Sicily · Saint Methodios of Syracuse · Saint Joseph the Hymnographer · Saint Elias the Younger of Enna · Saint Agatha of Catania · Saint Lucy of Syracuse · Saint Pancras of Taormina

Sources

• Lonely Planet – Santuario Madonna della Rocca, Taormina
• Wikipedia – Santi Pietro e Paolo d'Agrò
• Sicilian Region – Protection of the church of Santa Maria di Mili (Italian)
• Wikipedia – Monte Dinnammare
• FAI – Monastery of San Filippo di Fragalà (Italian)
• Alcantara River Park (official site, Italian)
• UNESCO – Mount Etna