Siege of Taormina (962)

Siege of Taormina (962)
Part of Muslim conquest of Sicily
Date 962 Location Taormina, Sicily Result Fatimid victory
Belligerents
Fatimid Caliphate	Byzantine Empire
Commanders and leaders
Ahmad ibn al-Hasan al-Kalbi	Unknown

The siege of Taormina in 962 was a successful siege by the Fatimid governors of Sicily of the main Byzantine fortress on the island, Taormina.

Siege

The siege was led by the Kalbid cousins Ahmad ibn al-Hasan al-Kalbi and al-Hasan ibn Ammar and lasted for thirty weeks, until the city fell on Christmas Day 962. 1,570 of the inhabitants (approximately one-fifth of the population) went as slaves to the Fatimid Caliph al-Mu'izz; the town was renamed al-Mu'izziyya, and Muslim settlers were brought in.

The siege was led by the two Kalbid cousins al-Hasan ibn Ammar and Ahmad ibn al-Hasan al-Kalbi. In 962, Taormina was besieged and reduced by Ahmad, where the entire population was sold into slavery and the area was colonized by Muslim resettlers. Following the fall of Taormina in 962, the Kalbids moved north to Rometta and Ahmad began its siege the next year.

Aftermath

Followed by the Fatimid victories in the siege of Rometta and the Battle of the Straits in 964–965, the fall of Taormina marked the end of the last Byzantine footholds on Sicily, and the final stage of the Muslim conquest of the island.