Page 190 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - Sicily

188  SICIL Y AREA B Y AREA

P Marina P Forte San Salvatore
After walking along the marina Beyond the busy harbour
in 1789, the author Frances area, at the very tip of the
Elliot wrote: “There is nothing in curved penin sula that
the world like the Messina protects the harbour, is
seafront. It is longer and Forte San Salvatore, built
more elegant than Via Chiaia in the 17th century to
in Naples, more vigorous block access to the
and picturesque than the Messina marina. On top
Promenade in Nice…”. Not far of one of the tall towers
away is another focal point in this impressive fort is a
in Messina, Piazza dell’Unità statue of the Madonna
d’Italia. The buildings that lined della Lettera: according to
the marina before the tradition, the Virgin Mary
earthquake were part of sent a letter of benedic-
the “Palazzata” complex, tion to the inhabitants
also known as the Teatro of Messina in AD 42.
Marittimo. The Teatro was On Via Garibaldi is
a series of buildings that the bustling Stazione
extended for more than a Marittima, the board-
kilometre in the heart of the ing point for the ferry
port area – the centre of boats that connect
commercial transactions – Messina to Calabria on
which also included the homes the mainland of Italy. One of the five panels of Antonello da Messina’s
of the most powerful St Gregory Polyptych (1473)
families in Messina. E Museo Regionale
Viale della Libertà 465. Tel 090- museum has 12 rooms that
O Acquario 361 292. Open 9am–7pm present an overview of the
Comunale Tue–Sat (last entrance artistic splendour of old
The garden of the Villa 6:30pm), 9am–1pm Sun Messina and include a number
Mazzini is decorated & hols (last entrance of famous paintings. At
with busts and statues, 12:30pm). Closed Mon. & the entrance there are 12
and is also home to the This fascinating 18th-century bronze panels
Municipal Aquarium. museum is close to depicting the Legend of the
Next door is the Palazzo Piazza dell’Unità d’Italia. Sacred Letter. Some of the
della Prefettura, in It boasts a major most important works include
front of which is the collection of art works paintings from the Byzantine
Fountain of Neptune, salvaged after the period and fragments from
sculpted in the mid- catastrophic 1908 the Duomo ceiling (room 1);
1500s by Giovanni earthquake. In fact, the Gothic art in room 2; the
Angelo Montorsoli. most of the works examples of Renaissance
The statues are come from the Civico Messina in room 3; the
19th-century copies Museo Peloritano, Polyptych that Antonello
and the originals are which was in the now da Messina (see p27)
on display in the Madonna and Child, destroyed Monastery painted for the Monastery
Museo Regionale. Francesco Laurana of St Gregory. The of St Gregory (room 4) and,
Bridging the Straits of Messina
Communications with the mainland have always been a fundamental issue for Sicily, and for over 30
years the question of building a bridge over the Straits of Messina has been debated. There has even
been a proposal to build a tunnel anchored to the sea bed. This idea now seems to have been discarded,
and work on the design of a bridge is under way. In 1981 the Società Stretto di Messina was established
with the aim of designing
a single-span suspension
bridge over the straits to
connect Torre Faro and
Punta Pezzo – a distance
of 3 km (2 miles). A
multitude of problems still
needs to be tackled,
however, one of which is
the constant danger of
earthquakes. A 1997 design for the planned bridge over the Straits of Messina

For hotels and restaurants in this region see pp204–5 and pp216–17

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