The city of Messina

Messina (/məәˈsiːnəә/; Italian pronunciation: [mesˈsiːna], Sicilian: Missina; Latin: Messana, Greek: Μεσσήνα) is the capital of the Italian province of Messina. It is the 3rd largest city on the island of Sicily, and the 13th largest city in Italy, with a population of more than 252,000 inhabitants in the city proper and about 650,000 in the province. It is located near the northeast corner of Sicily, at the Strait of Messina, opposite Villa San Giovanni on the mainland, and has close ties with Reggio Calabria.

The city's main resources are its seaports (commercial and military shipyards), cruise tourism, commerce, and agriculture (wine production and cultivating lemons, oranges, mandarin oranges, and olives). The city has been a Roman Catholic Archdiocese and Archimandrite seat since 1548 and is home to a locally important international fair. The city has the University of Messina, founded in 1548 by Ignatius of Loyola. Starting from the South, guests can enjoy the splendid Church of SS. Annunziata dei Catalani of the Norman period (12th century), with obvious Arab influence. The Church is much lower than the street level, reflecting the fact that the city, because of the cluster of the debris of the earthquake of December 28, 1908, was rebuilt to a large portion a few meters higher. Nearby, you can visit the Cathedral: built in Norman times by order of Roger II, its current appearance is due to the reconstruction following the earthquake. Piazza del Duomo hosts the 16th-century and rich fountain of Orion. Still, continuing North, it will be difficult not to see the imposing classical building Z (1924), the Town Hall. And just past the Teatro Vittorio Emanuele II, opened in 1852. On the coast North of the city is located the Regional Museum. The museum is housed in the former textile mill Barbera-Mellinghoff, late nineteenth-century building, already identified in 1908, after the earthquake, as home to the museum and then refitted and reopened in 1922. The museum illustrates the figurative culture expressed by the city through the centuries (XII-XVIII), highlighted by personalities such as those of Antonello and Caravaggio.