INTRODUCTION

Messina sits in the north east of the island of Sicily in the province of Messina on the strait of Messina with Villa san Giovanni on the mainland in Calabria. The port is the core economical resource of the city, which also bases its economy on agriculture whose products are lemon oranges, tangerine, other fruit, vegetables and wine.

Two versions of its origin can be are widespread. According to legends the city was first named after King Zanclus. However, another version reads that its name was first Zancle given by the Greek settlers who created the city, a word from the Greek ζάγκλον whose translation is "scythe" given the shape of its harbour. A proof of that original name is said to be in a Scaletta Zanclea, a commune at the entrance of the Strait of Messina.

The city was called centuries later after Messene, the Greek city, from the Greek Μεσσήνη, by Anaxilas of Rhegium in the 5th century BC. The city came under sustained attacks from different peoples: sacked by the Carthaginians, conquered by Syracuse, was laid siege and seized by the Mamertines in 288 BC who killed male population and took their women. From the city they sacked the area. The expansion of Syracuse was a danger for the Mamertines’s interests. When Hiero II of Syracuse attacked the Mamertines, they resorted to the Carthaginians’ help.

The latter took advantage of the situation as there had been a long lasting conflict with Syracuse over dominance of the island. In 264 BC after the second attack of HIiero’s army, the Mamertines requested Rome’s help. The Romans fearing that the Carthaginians might invade the peninsula sent their army for the first time outside the mainland. During the war between Rome and Carthage, Messina supported Rome and kept its freedom. The city was part of the Roman Empire, then taken by the Goths, seized by the Byzantine Empire, then conquered by the Arabs and later by the Normans. Messina is thought to be the gate through where the Black Death spread to Europe. The Genoese ships sailing from Caffa in Crimea brought the plague into the continent. Messina’s port was from where the ships departed for the battle of Lepanto. The Spanish writer Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra recuperated at the Grand hospital in Messina.The city was at its height at the beginning of 17th century when the Spanish were holding power.

The city had gained fame and was among the ten most important cities of Europe. However, Messina was determined to set free from foreign domination. It succeeded in its independence for a short span of time with the support of Louis XIV of France.

With the peace of Nijmegen the city was seized again by the Spanish crown and was sacked. The new power decided to annulled its autonomy, its university and senate and to assure the occupancy a huge fortress was erected. From then on, the splendour it had was gradually lost. In the plague of 1743 48,000 died. When the Risorgimento riots erupted in different parts of Italy Messina was one of the first Italian cities to join the rebellion .

The rebellion of 1848 against the Bourbon king was crushed. The Garibaldine troops set the city free in 1860 after beating the Spanish in the battle of Milazzo. Giuseppe Mazzini, who played a key role in Italy’s unification, was voted deputy at Messina in the 1866 elections. In December 1908, 80,000 people perished and almost the whole ancient architecture was badly damaged by the earthquake. In 1909, following a more rational plan the city had a new birth. Unluckily, in 1943 during the Second World War the Allied dropped their bombs and the death toll rose to thousands. The city was awarded a Golden Medal for military valour and another medal for Civil Valour was given in honour of those who made an effort to rebuild the city. In June 1955 Messina played host to the Messina Conference of Western European Foreign Ministers, where the creation of the EEC was conceived.

Messina has given the art, spiritual and academic world notable people such as the Renaissance painter Antonello da Messina, the mathematician and philosopher Dicaearchus, Saint Eustochia Smeralda Calafato, the astronomer and mathematician Francesco Maurolico, Saint Hannibal Mary Di Francia and the anthropologist Giuseppe Sergi.

The city has offered many writers a perfect setting for their works such as Antony and Cleopatra and Much Ado about Nothing by Shakespeare, L’Etourdi by Molière, Idylls from Messina by Nietzsche, Women of Messina by Elio Vittorini. Plutarch, Boccaccio, Matteo Bandello, Schiller, Silvio Pellico, Giovanni Pascoli, Stefano D'Arrigo and Julien Green also chose this city for some of their works.

What to see:

Cathedral of Messina

How to get to Messina:

BY PLANE: Messina does not afford its own airport. The nearest one is located in Reggio di Calabria called Aereoporto dello Stretto

BY TRAIN: Messina connects Sicily to the main train network of the mainland. There are long distance trains from Rome and Naples which cross over the strait and reach Palermo and Catania. There are regular trains which reach Milazzo, Cefalu, Taormina and Syracuse.

BY BUS: there are long distance buses from Rome and Naples to Catania and Palermo calling at Messina. There are regular services to Taormina and Milazzo (for the Aeolian Islands).

BY BOAT: hourly ferries cross the strait to reach Villa San Giovanni and daily hydrofoils link Messina to Reggio di Calabria. During the summer, cruises berth at Messina’s downtown where they can take a tour by double-decker along Messina´s coast.