One of the most characteristic symbols of the city of Taurianova, the "Palco Sgarano", dates back to the early 1900s.

Circular in shape, the stage rises up to 11 meters from the ground, with an external diameter of 10 meters and an internal diameter of 8, has a height from the base to the platform of 1.30 meters and a large central staircase formed by seven steps. Illuminated by 740 external and 100 internal bulbs and embellished with 16 entirely handmade chandeliers, it is a real architectural jewel. Palco Sgarano was designed by Paolo Esposito, who built it between 1909 and 1911. Once built, Esposito realized that the precious structure required a lot of maintenance, so in 1920 he was forced to sell it.

Giovanni Sgarano (born in the then Radicena, in 1869) bought it, from which the stage then took its name, since it was the latter who created the lighting system, which at the time operated on acetylene carbide gas. Built exclusively for the patronal feast of the Madonna della Montagna, which takes place from 29 August to 10 September, it began to be mounted also for the patronal feasts of the various villages throughout the Piana di Gioia Tauro. From Giovanni Sgarano, the stage passed into the hands of his son Giuseppe (born in Taurianova in 1926), who over the years made changes and improvements. The last modification took place in 1994, when on the occasion of the centenary of the Madonna of the Mountain, he embellished it by building a flowerbed all around the base with artistic inserts that recall the existing ones. The stage is also characterized by perfect acoustics, thanks to its sound box that amplifies and harmonizes the sounds.

Precisely for this reason, the largest and most prestigious military and civilian bands in Italy have played on the Palco Sgarano, as well as the greatest artists of Italian pop music, such as Mino Reitano, Nilla Pizzi, Orietta Berti, Little Tony and the Ricchi e Poveri. For reasons of deterioration, from 1999 the stage was no longer assembled until 2014, when it was finally possible to carry out the restoration it needed, thanks to the precious contribution of the citizens in the first place and to the interest of the then provincial councilor for Culture, Eduardo Lamberti Castronuovo. Thus it was that the stage made its return to Piazza Macrì, on the occasion of the 120th anniversary of the miracle, the 20th anniversary of the coronation of the Madonna as Queen of Taurianova and the 85th anniversary of the dedication of the new parish church. This year, on the occasion of the celebrations in honor of the patroness Maria SS della Montagna, after 20 years, the Fanfare of the 12th Sicily Carabinieri Regiment, directed by the master marshal Paolo Sena, returned to perform on the Palco Sgarano. The occasion required him to direct his musicians, in the execution of a piece by Ennio Morricone, the maestro was Cettina Nicolosi, president of the “Francesco Cilea” Conservatory of Reggio Calabria, as well as municipal councilor of Taurianova, who had already directed them several times in the past.

The Sgarano stage is so precious for the Taurianovesi that, in 2014, pursuing the aim of saving it, some citizens decided to found an association, "The friends of the stage", whose mission was precisely to safeguard what is considered to be the symbol of the collective identity of the recent past of the Taurianova community, from deterioration. The association, chaired by Giacomo Carioti, is not for profit and works for the exclusive pursuit of social and cultural promotion objectives, namely: promoting the culture of volunteering; encouraging recreational and socializing opportunities; promoting sports activities; spreading the culture of art; promoting and enhancing popular culture and local traditions; promoting music and reading. The association pursues these purposes through the recovery of architectural assets and objects of historical and cultural value in Taurianova; the implementation of cultural promotion and expression activities, of music, entertainment, sport, information and civil growth; organization of events, conferences, debates and exhibitions.

Among the many activities that “Gli amici del stage” have promoted over the years, there are some that have entered by right among the historicized events of the community, such as the" CorriTaurianova ", a night road race included in the regional calendar FIDAL (Italian Federation of Athletics); the "Via delle stelle", an exhibition of traditional votive stars in the alleys of the historic center; "Cribs in the alleys", an exhibition of cribs set up in the alleys of the historic center with the relative competition; the exhibition of artistic nativity scenes of the "Neapolitan School" and the "International Madonnari Competition", now in its fourth edition, which this year saw the participation of over 50 madonnari masters from all over the world. At the center of every association initiative action there is always the Sgarano stage, which is regularly assembled and set up by the members in Piazza Macrì every year, to greet the patron saint of the city.