Defined as “the most elegant station in the world”, Taormina-Giardini is an Art Nouveau jewel with refined decorations that will take you back to the emotion of travelling during the Belle Époque.

There are few train stations in Italy dating back to the golden age of the railways still operating. This is why, in addition to the wonder of arriving in the Bay of Naxos, when you get off at the Taormina-Giardini stop you add the aesthetic pleasure of imagining yourself on a late 19th-century journey during one of the stages of the Grand Tour.

Awarded by AEC Italia together with UTP Assoutenti with the Euroferr Prize for its historical, environmental, and archaeological tourist value, the Taormina-Giardini Station was inaugurated in 1928.

Trains are wonderful…To travel by train is to see nature and human beings, towns and churches and rivers, in fact, to see life.

(Agatha Christie)

Although the line actually dates back to 1866, the current building was rebuilt in the mid-1920s by architect Roberto Narducci, who designed it in neo-Gothic style. Characterized by an external façade decorated with two crenellated towers, its entrance is protected by a wrought iron roof that recalls the architectural motifs of the pre-existing Villagonia Castle, demolished to allow for the construction of the railway station.

The interior rooms are beautiful, embellished with late 19th-century Sicilian-style wooden furniture and frescoes and relief decorations by one of the major exponents of Palermo Liberty, Salvatore Gregorietti. Author of famous interventions at the Villino Florio and the Palazzo dei Normanni, he also oversaw the creation of the station’s stained glass windows and wrought iron furnishings.

Just walk through its corridors, gaze at the deco writings “1st class lounge” or the cast iron crenellated shelters, to fly with your imagination through the pages of the novel The Mystery of the Blue Train by Agatha Christie.

Due to its beauty, the Taormina-Giardini station has been the film set of many films such as The Godfather – Part III by Francis Ford Coppola and Le Grand Bleu by Luc Besson.

The Secret

During the Second World War, the station was bombed by the Allies who also hit a wing of the famous San Domenico hotel while a meeting of the German high command was taking place.

Useful Info

Stazione Taormina Giardini
Via Nazionale 43
98039 Villagonia, Taormina, Messina