Clocktower in Taormina, 2005

The clock-tower acts as an entrance gate to the part of the city that historians call "the 15th century area".

Dating back to the 12th century, the tower was razed to the ground during a French invasion under Louis XIV in 1676.

What can be admired today is a reconstruction by the people of Taormina in 1679, who added a large clock to the tower. Studies carried out over the years, however, have shown that the foundations of the tower in large square blocks of Taormina stone date back further than the first construction date of the tower. It can therefore be supposed that the first tower was built on the ruins of an older defence wall which would have dated back to the origins of the city, in other words the 4th century B.C.

text from: www.gate2taormina.com/taormina_en.htm