Castelmola is a natural belvedere on the bay of Taormina; its name derives from the Norman castle dominating over the center of town and from the shape of the rock on which it stands, which vaguely resembles a millstone ("mola").
It was founded by the Sicilians, destroyed Dionysius, the tyrant of Syracuse; then it was conquered by the Romans, Arabs and Normans.
The imposing Norman walls are all that remain of the castle-fortress; the Church of San Giorgio (1450) and the XVI century Church of San Nicola, restored in 1935.