Tauromenion (Taormina, Sicily): the Hellenistic sacred area near the church of Santa Caterina and its transformations during the Roman Imperial age

This paper investigates a Hellenistic sacred area located in the vicinity of the agora of ancient Tauromenion. In the Hellenistic period the sacred landscape was dominated by a peripteral temple, but towards the beginning of the second century AD the organization of the space underwent a radical change. A massive odeum was built directly against the southern flank of the temple, and its colonnade became the backdrop of the stage, while the space around the cult building was heavily modified in order to accommodate the entrances to the odeum. The new structures changed the hierarchic order within the area, signalling a fundamental transformation both in the function of the sacred building and in ritual practices. These structural changes are therefore extremely relevant to our understanding of the changes which affected the religious and cultural identity of Tauromenion following the foundation of the Augustan colony of Tauromenium.