Messina, Sicily
On the north-east corner of Sicily, Messina is the island’s third largest town and will be the point of arrival for many visitors. This is where the toe of Italy kicks Sicily, an ancient city guarding the narrow and strategically important Straits of Messina, with the treacherous rocks of Scylla and Charybdis. Founded in the 8th century BC by the Greeks it has, like all of this part of the southern Mediterranean, been much invaded since, by Syracuse, Carthage, Rome, the Normans and many more. Messina has also had its share of natural disasters including a run of earthquakes (including the 1908 quake which killed 84,000), plagues, cholera and then major bomb damage during World War II.
Much of the town has been reconstructed down the years, including the Piazza del Duomo (18th century) with the rebuilt medieval cathedral itself. Next door is the campanile (bell tower) with reputedly the largest astronomical clock in the world. Be there at noon for the full display of doves, angels, the Madonna, a roaring lion and crowing cock. Check out the Museo Regionale, for a wealth of material rescued after the various calamities visited on Messina. August 15th sees the Feast of the Assumption (ferragosto), with spectacular firework displays.
Other must-see churches include the Sanctuary of Montevergine, Santa Maria degli Alemanni, Annunziata dei Catalani, the 18th century Palazzo Calapaj, the 16th century Fountain of Orion and the Fountain of Neptune, the Senatory Fountain (1619), the Four Fountains and the San Ranieri Lighthouse from 1555. More prosaically, there are the two highest pylons in the world, built in 1957 over the Straits of Messina to bring electricity to the island. The cabling is now under the sea, but the pylons remain, a protected historic sight.
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