Messina

Messina is located on the far northeastern tip of Sicily, right about where the toe of the boot is about to kick it. The last time we were in Sicily was in 2009, and we were mostly on the opposite side of the island in Castellamare del Golfo, which we loved.

Today, we docked at 9:00 AM under hazy skies and 18 degrees. Castellamare is a quaint little fishing village, but Messina is a small city of about 250,000. Unsurprisingly, history is everywhere. Because of it's strategic location, Messina has, at one time or another, been controlled by just about anyone you can think of. It was discovered by the Greeks in the 8th century BC, sacked by the Carthaginians in 397 BC and reconquered by Dionysius the same year. In 288 BC, the Mamertines (Italian mercenaries) attacked, killed all the men, and took the women as their wives. They formed an alliance with Rome in 264 BC for added protection, but nonetheless, they were ousted by the Goths in 476 AD. In 535 AD the Byzantine Empire took over, then the Arabs in 842, The Norman's in 1061 , Richard the Lionheart in 1189. Spain ruled from 1282 until a revolution, starting in 1674, ended their rule in 1713.

Earthquakes in 1693, 1783, and 1908 have all but destroyed the original structures, but remnants of many buildings, dating back as far as the 11th century, still remain.

We spent most of our day simply wandering through the ancient streets with our mouths agape much of the time. We climbed the 170 stairs up to the Sanctuary of Madonna di Montalto and the neighboring Shrine of Cristo Re.

We visited the very impressive Duomo, built in the 12th century, and watched the noon spectacle put on by its clocktower, which houses the largest mechanical clock in the world. Some of the display is in the attached videos and more info can be found here: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Messina_astrono…

To end our tour, we bought a beautiful bottle of wine from Sicilily's indigenous grape, Nero D'Avola, and a dozen of Brenda's favorite cookies, Brutti ma Buoni, that you can only find in Sicily.

Strangely, despite all the great history, interesting buildings, and big city conveniences in Messina, Brenda and I would rather spend our time in Sicily in our little fishing village on the west coast of the island.Read more