-
Plan your tailor-made trip with a local expert
-
Book securely with money-back guarantee
-
Travel stress-free with local assistance and 24/7 support
Carlo DeSando
Wonderful Time in Italy We were covered from the moment we landed in Rome. The drivers were great, the connections were flawless, and it was well-planned a...
Inspired?Meet experts! ⤍
Messina may well be your first sight of Sicily, and – from the ferry – it’s a fine one, the glittering town spread up the hillside beyond the sickle-shaped harbour. Sadly, the image is shattered almost as soon as you step into the city, bombed and shaken to a shadow of its former self by plague, cholera and earthquakes. The great earthquake of 1908 killed 84,000 people, levelled the city and made the shore sink by half a metre overnight. Allied bombing raids in 1943 didn’t help, undoing much of the post-earthquake restoration.
Today, the remodelled city guards against future natural disasters, with wide streets and low, reinforced concrete buildings marching off in all directions. Not surprisingly, it’s a pretty dull spectacle, and there’s little point in hanging around for longer than you need to.
Indeed, poor old Messina is the place to be only on the feast of the Assumption, or Ferragosto (Aug 15), when a towering carriage, the Vara – an elaborate column supporting dozens of papier-mâché putti and angels, topped by the figure of Christ – is hauled through the city centre, followed by a firework display on the seafront.
Top image: Messina, Sicily, Italy © NAPA/Shutterstock
Travel ideas for Italy
Created by local experts