Santuario Madonna della Rocca

Built inside a grotto on Monte Tauro, this small church was founded by the abbot Francesco Raineri in around 1640. According to legend, the Virgin Mary and baby Jesus appeared to a young shepherd who had taken refuge in the grotto during a sudden storm. The lofty view from the church's terrace is almost as heavenly, taking in Taormina and the deep-blue Ionian Sea beyond.