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In
the square outside the Cathedral we can see the Fontana Orione, the work of Montorsoli
(1547), recently restored and a short distance from the Cathedral is the Chiesa dei
Catalani (12th-14th century) and the monument by Andrea Calamech, 1572, of Don Giovanni
d'Austria, Admiral of the Christian fleet that, parting from Messina, defeated the Turks
in Lepanto in 1571. Among other testimonies of the past, we remember the Chiesa di S.
Francesco (13th century) whose apses remain immortalised by Antonello in "Pietà con
tre angeli", the ruins of the Chiesa di S. Maria Alemanna (13th century), an
admirable example of the gothic style, S. Giovanni di Malta with its 16th century gallery,
the Monte di Pietà (16th- 18th century) recently restored, the Fontana di Nettuno by
Montorsoli (1557, a copy, the original in the Museum). The Teatro Vittorio Emanuele by
Pietro Valenti was built between 1842 and 1852 and was gravely damaged by the earthquake
of 1908. Today it presents an original external facade while being completely
reconstructed internally. Among the many modem churches is the Tempio di Cristo Re with
its new baroque style which was inaugurated in 1937 on the site of where the Castello di
Matagrifoe was once found. There are many monuments also in the surrounding areas of the
city, the most relevant is the S. Maria della Valle (the "Badiazza") at 5.5
kilometres from Messina going up towards the Peloritani. Of the great Monastery, only the
Church (12th-14th century) remains today and awaits an adjustment in its value. The
surviving artistic treasure of the city are kept in the Regional Museum, which was
established in 1914 in the Viale della Libertà on the premises of an old spinning mill.
The construction of a new building is almost concluded next to the old site. Among the
very many important works we can see the Polittico di S. Gregorio by Antonello, the
Adorazione dei Pastori and the Resurrezione di Lazzaro by Caravaggio,
sculptures
by Goro di Gregorio, Desiderio da Settignano and Francesco Laurana.
The
attractive countryside of Messina extends along the North Coast where in a stretch of 10
kilometres the two lakes of Ganzirri are admired, once used for the cultivation of
mussels, and the Punta Faro (the Calabrian Coast is only 3 kilometres distance from this
point) with its gigantic electric power pylons, today no longer in use and awaiting new
utilization. The majority of public entertainments (bars, restaurants, etc.) are
concentrated in this area and particularly in summer they are frequented intensely
together with the nearby lidos in Mortelle. The social life of Messina appears scanned by
numerous manifestations both religious and civil which are seen by a concourse of many
visitors; among them, the Good Friday procession, the mid-August parade of the equestrian
statues of Mata and Grifone, the mythical founders of the city, the procession on the 15th
August of the Vara, a sumptuous and gigantic machine which celebrates the Assumption of
Our Lady, and is hauled by the arms of thousands of faithful devotees, and the
International Trade Fair, that revives a tra dition that began in 1296 and which is held
in the first half of August.
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must mention finally the procession of the Madonna della Lettera (3rd June) the patron of
Messina, that recalls the much loved legend - the sending of a letter to the newly
converted Messinese from the Virgin Mary in the year 43 A.D. The devotion of the city to
the Madonna is demonstrated immediately to visitors when entering Messina by sea. There is
a statue erected on the keep of S. Salvatore fort at the mouth of the port (6 metres
high). The work is completed with the writing on the wall of the fort, with the phrase
from the mythical letter, vos et ipsarn civitatem benedicimus (we bless you and your
city). It was illuminated for the first time in 1934 from the Vatican by Pope Pio XI by
radiocommand invented by G. Marconi.
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