On this day, the mountainside fortress town of Taormina on the East coast of Sicily, the island’s last great citadel still in Byzantine hands, fell to the large marauding army of Ibrahim II, the Emir of Ifriqiya on the north coast of Africa. Travelling across Sicily from the west coast to the east coast, Ibrahim quickly crushed the recently reinforced Byzantine army that came out to meet him at Giardini, but Taormina itself, sitting high upon a rock, seemed impregnable. Ibrahim nonetheless ordered volunteers to climb the rocky seaward face of the citadel, which the remaining defenders had neglected to watch, and as soon as the black flag of the caliphate was unfurled at the top, Ibrahim’s army surged towards the gates. The defenders were overwhelmed, the gates were flung open, and Taormina fell. Finally, after 75 years, the whole of Sicily was in Muslim hands.
Puoi trovare altre brevi notizie storiche QUI
Your comments are always very welcome.
Ingliando 