Once upon a time in Sicily by Silva Wischeropp

Morbid charm of an abandoned house with typical Sicilian balcony railings, a rotten, peeling paint, washed-out wooden door discovered on the island of Sicily on the east coast.
This mysterious house façade stands not far from the tourist town of Taormina. The subject was photographed with the Nikon on 26 April 2012 in the early evening during my photo trip to the east coast of Sicily.
The typical, iron balcony shapes are a classic feature for the region of Sicily. The crumbling house façade as well as the peeling paint on the walls give the motif an irresistible charm. Colourful, individual wooden doors in dark shades of green and brown give the image a very special vintage character. These charming urban facades tell a piece of Sicilian history and culture. Behind every wooden window and every gateway lies the secret of this Mediterranean island in the south of Italy. Sicily enchants the visitor with its architectural peculiarities and different building styles, which give the island a unique fascination.

The small town of Taormina, high up on the mountain, which Goethe already discovered on his Italian travels at the end of the 18th century, attracted numerous artists and celebrities at the end of the 19th century, including Oscar Wild, Thomas Mann and Richard Strauss. Even Empress Sissi of Austria stopped by, and the Taormina-Giardini railway station was even extended in her honour.
The foundations for becoming a fashionable coastal resort were thus laid: And more celebrities came in the following decades, including Greta Garbo, Cary Grant, Elizabeth Taylor and many more.