Everyone thinks they know Taormina.
They come for the postcard views, the Ancient Theatre, the cafes clinging to the cliff’s edge, and those little boutique alleys buzzing with tourists in linen shirts and sunhats.
But almost no one knows this.
Tucked just beyond the crowds, hidden in plain sight, is a place so surreal, so storybook-like… it feels like it was imagined by a novelist — or an exiled royal trying to build her own world from scratch.
And, well… that’s not far from the truth.
Let me take you there.
In the late 1800s, a woman named Lady Florence Trevelyan was part of Queen Victoria’s inner circle.
She had wealth, class, power — and a dangerous kind of beauty. The kind that makes men in palaces forget their duties.
Rumor has it she was romantically involved with the future King Edward VII.
Big problem.
The palace couldn't afford another scandal. So, they cut a quiet deal: a lifelong pension in exchange for her silence… and her exile.
Florence took the offer. But what she did next turned exile into legend.
She sailed south — all the way to Sicily. Found a hilltop town called Taormina. And instead of disappearing into shame, she created something extraordinary.
Walk through the public gardens of Taormina — called Villa Comunale — and you'll stumble upon strange towers rising out of the greenery.
They’re not ancient ruins. And they weren’t built for any royal function.
They’re called Victorian Follies — eccentric, whimsical mini-structures that Lady Florence built with her own hands (and a generous imagination).
They served no real “purpose” except to delight. To offer little nooks where one could read, observe birds, or just sit still and take in the view of Mount Etna rising in the distance like a sleeping giant.
A place to — as she put it — “idle well.”
Imagine that: a noblewoman, shunned by the crown, building her own whimsical towers on a cliff in Sicily… just to enjoy the view.
Feels like something out of a Wes Anderson film, doesn’t it?
But the magic doesn’t stop with the towers.
The entire garden is like stepping into another dimension.
You’ll see rare palms from Asia. Exotic flowers that have no business growing in Sicily. Plants from all over the world, somehow thriving here in quiet harmony.
It’s like a botanical passport — each path revealing a different corner of Lady Florence’s curious mind.
This wasn’t just a garden. It was her personal sanctuary. Her art project. Her act of defiance.
She didn’t fade away. She flourished.
And now, over a hundred years later, it’s all still here. Open to the public. Free to visit. And yet, 90% of visitors walk right past it without even knowing.
We’re obsessed with the “Instagram version” of Italy.
We chase the same shots, follow the same guides, take the same routes. But places like this — the Victorian Follies — remind us that the real stories hide behind the obvious ones.
This garden isn’t just a peaceful spot. It’s a quiet rebellion.
It’s what happens when a woman is told to disappear… and instead, she plants a masterpiece.
Are you going to be like every other tourist — breezing through Taormina, snapping a pic of the Greek Theatre, grabbing a spritz, and calling it a day?
Or will you go looking for the story behind the story?
The next time you're in Sicily… find the gate to Villa Comunale. Walk past the hedges. Follow the winding path.
And when you spot that strange little tower rising from the greenery?
Now you’ll know.
You’ve just found one of Italy’s best-kept secrets.
Welcome!
