Inside the converted 14th-century monastery that made Sicily ‘the new Ibiza’

Monks always seem to choose places to live that resemble paradise. In the 14th century, the Dominicans did just that when they took Baron Damiano Rosso up on his offer of this palace, carved into a steep cliff between Mount Etna and the Ionian Sea in Taormina. It became the Monastery of San Domenico, flourishing until 1866, when the Italian government confiscated all religious properties.

In 1896 a descendant of Rosso, to whom ownership of the property had reverted, decided to open a hotel, creating bedrooms from the monks’ cells, adding on a wing in the Italian liberty style and nurturing the gardens of lavender and citrus fruits that the monks had planted.

It was a roaring success, attracting those who passed through Taormina on their Grand Tour and an increasingly colourful cast of actors and writers, including Oscar Wilde and Thomas Mann, who added other layers of history to the monastery’s ancient walls.

DH Lawrence stayed there with his wife in the 1920s and legend has it that his wife’s relationship with a local donkey driver during the visit provided the inspiration for Lady Chatterley’s Lover. Later, Hollywood came to play in the shape of Humphrey Bogart, an incognito Greta Garbo – whose visit is still celebrated today in San Domenico’s bar – and Audrey Hepburn (all pictured, right).

During the pandemic and after a two-year renovation, the hotel swung open its doors once more as a Four Seasons. Much of its past is now revealed in signature cocktails such as Miss Harriet Brown – the pseudonym Garbo used when visiting. Many are served in the colourful, local ceramic mugs, while at the end of that room ancient art from the days of the monks gazes down on you from the old walls.

There are now 111 rooms – up from 105 – with the original monks’ cells the smallest but most characterful, each entrance topped by a fresco of a saint. The rooms in the 19thAt century Grand Hotel Wing have been redecorated and feature marble bathrooms, with plunge pools inset into some of the terraces.

The best change that the hotel group has made is to elevate the swimming pool, transforming it into an infinity pool that seemingly hangs suspended over the Mediterranean. The famous Four Seasons service is in evidence, with pool boys ready to proffer ice-cold metal bottles of water and open the scallop-edged, grey and white pagoda umbrellas to keep you cool between dips.

poolside restaurant Anciovi, decorative white and gold fish gleam on the walls, lit by the blazing sun that slides through gaps in the wicker roof. The food is sensational, from Sicilian sushi to beef tartare scattered with capers, and linguine with lobster.

At the hotel’s finedining restaurant Principe Cerami, chef Massimo Mantarro serves the likes of spaghetti with cuttlefish ink, marinated cuttlefish tagliatelle and courgette blossoms. Both Mantarro and his acclaimed restaurant survived the transition into a Four Seasons. The old blends seamlessly with the new at San Domenico; beloved of so many for so long. This starry address just became that bit brighter.

San Domenico Palace, Taormina, a Four Seasons Hotel (00 39 09426 13111; fourseasons.com) has doubles from £548, including breakfast