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History of Giardini-Naxos


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Naxos was the first colony founded in Sicily by the Chalcidians from the island of Euboea in the second half of the eighth century B.C. (734-735 B.C.) and they were joined by people from the island of Naxos in the Aegean Sea. Soon Naxos became a thriving centre, expansing to form Lentini and Catania.

Naxos was destroyed in 403 BC by Dionysius I - the tyrant of Syracuse -and its citizens were sold as slaves. The remaining population withdrew to a hill called 'Taurus' where the town of Tauromenium (today Taormina) was founded. A few ruins remain of original Naxos including antique basalt walls along the Santa Venera river, and some tombs dating from the fourth century BC.

For 2000 years Naxos remained quiet, with occasional use as a station for changing horses or for growing citrus fruits and sugar cane. In the 15th century the bay was reinforced with towers added to the ancient medieval castle. Naxos slowly increased in importance and in the mid 19th century it became independent from Taormina under the name of Giardini Naxos. (The word Giardini is from 'gardens' after the citrus groves in the
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