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Messina

The city of Messina sits like a spectator in front of the awe inspiring-scenario that the strait offers; enclosed between the coast and the Peloritani Mounts, with its natural sickle-shaped port, it has always been a destination for travelers, merchants, settlers, and a strategic point of conquest for every people that for centuries called it home, while also being the backdrop of extremely important historical events. It was founded by the Creek around 730 BC, with the name Zancle (that in ancient Greek meant "sickle"). The Romans conquered it in 264 BC and after the fall of the Roman Empire, the Byzantine, and thus the Arabs, were the first to possess it. In 1060 it was conquered by the Normans. Then, under the Swabian, Angevin, Argonese, domains, it reached great prosperity and it became the capital of the reign of Sicily along with Palermo; thanks to its port, it was one of the first commercial centers and one of the largest and most important cities of the Mediterranean, so much so in fact that for long centuries it was the richest Sicilian city, second only to Naples among all the southern cities of Italy. Unfortunately, from the middle of the 18th century, a series of catastrophic events (the plague of 1743, the earthquakes of 1783 and 1908, the air raids of the second world war) decimated the population and destroyed almost the entire artistic heritage accumulated over the centuries, and along with it the proof of the city's immense historical background. Everything changed, but thanks to the tenacity and the love of its people, Messina emerged from its own ashes and always recovered; nowadays it shows itself to us with its large and straight roads, wide squares, gardens and restored monuments, ancient churches and new buildings.