Page 189 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - Sicily

NOR THEASTERN SICIL Y  187

object – the largest VISITORS’ CHECKLIST
astronomical clock in
the world, built by a Practical Information
Strasbourg firm in 1933. Road map F2. * 236,000.
Noon is the signal for a n STR Via dei Mille 270 (090-293
num ber of mechanical 52 92); Palacultura, Viale Boccetta
figures to move in (090-772 21 47). _ Cavalcata dei
elaborate patterns, Giganti and La Vara (Aug).
∑ discovermessina.it
geared by huge
cogwheels. Almost all of Transport
the impressive interior is g Ustica Lines (0923-873 813).
the result of fine post- V (090-532 719).
war reconstruction.
Some sculptures on the
trusses in the central incorporates statues
section of the two-aisle representing four rivers: the
nave, a 15th-century Tiber, Nile, Ebro and Camaro
basin and the 1525 (the last of which was
statue of St John the channelled into Messina via
Baptist by Gagini are the first aqueduct in the city
The Orion Fountain, with the Duomo and the Torre part of the original specifically to supply the
dell’Orologio in the background decoration. The fountain with water).
doorways in the right-
P Monument to John hand vestibule leading to the P University
of Austria Treasury are of note, as is the The University is near Piazza
In the square in front of the tomb of Arch bishop Carducci. It was founded in 1548,
Annunziata church is a statue Palmieri, sculpted in closed by the Spanish in 1679
of John of Austria, the admiral 1195. In the transept and reconstructed at last in 1927.
who won the famous Battle of is an organ, built after Besides the university faculties,
Lepanto (1571), with his foot World War II, with five the complex also includes the
on the head of the defeated keyboards and 170 stops. small Museo Zoologico
Ottoman commander Alì Pasha. The side aisles house Cambria (tel: 090-394 447),
The work was sculpted in 1572 many works of art, with its fine collections of
by Andrea Calamech. especially Gothic vertebrates, shells and
The pedestal celebrates the funerary monuments, insects. Follow Viale
formation of the Holy League most of which have Principe Umberto, and
and the defeat of the Turks in been reconstructed. you come to the
this historic naval battle. One of Botanic Garden
the sailors taking part was the P Fontana di and the Montalto
great Miguel de Cervantes, Orione Sanctuary, with the
author of Don Quixote, who This lovely Madonna of Victory,
recovered from his wounds in 15th-century built after the Battle
a Messina hospital. fountain stands of Lepanto,
next to the One of the two lions on the standing out
R Duomo Duomo. It portal of the Duomo against the sky.
The Cathedral is in Piazza Duomo,
in the heart of town. Although The 1908 Earthquake
it was reconstructed after the
1908 earthquake and the 1943 At 5:20am on 28 December 1908, it seemed that nature was intent
bombings, it has preserved its upon destroying Messina: an earthquake and a tidal wave struck at
medieval aspect. It was built by the same time, bringing over 91 per cent of the buildings to the
Henry VI Hohenstaufen in 1197. ground and killing 60,000 people. Reggio Calabria, on the other
The façade was totally rebuilt but side of the Straits of Messina, was also destroyed. Reconstruction
you can still see the original began immediately.
central portal built in the early Some of the remains
Middle Ages, decorated with two of the old town
were salvaged by
lions and a statue of the Virgin being incorporated
Mary and Infant Jesus. The side into a new urban
doors are decorated with statues plan, designed by
of the Apostles and lovely inlay Luigi Borzi. His
and reliefs. On the left-hand scheme gives
side of the façade is the large Messina its present-
campanile, almost 60 m (197 ft) Messina the day after the earthquake day appearance.
high, built to house a unique
For hotels and restaurants in this region see pp204–5 and pp216–17

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