Messina Area Information

Messina is the third largest city on the island of Sicily and is also the capital of the province of Messina. The city is located on the north east coast of Sicily next to the Strait of Messina and directly opposite Calabria in Italy. Messina has a population of 250,000 inhabitants in the city and about 500,000 in the metropolitan area. It is a good location for renting a Sicily holiday villa or staying in a Sicily apartment and seeing the east and north coasts of Sicily. There is also easy access by ferry to mainland Italy for exploring Calabria.

The main economical resource of the city is the port, both commercial and military, with several shipyards. Agriculture products include lemons, oranges, mandarin oranges and other fruit, vegetables and wine.

The main sites include the twelfth century cathedral which contains the remains of Conrad, king of Germany and Sicily in the 13th century. After the quake of 1908, the cathedral was almost entirely rebuilt in 1919 to 1920. Again, after a fire in 1943, it had to be rebuilt. The original Norman structure can be seen in the apsidal area. The façade has three late Gothic portals, the central one probably dating from the early 15th century, with noteworthy decorations. The architrave is decorated with a sculpture of Christ Among the Evangelists and representations of human figures, animals and plants.

Palazzo Calapaj, near the Duomo, an example of 18th century Messinese architecture which survived to the 1908 earthquake.

Other sites worth seeing are the Fountain of Orion and the Fountain of Neptune, by Giovanni Angelo Montorsoli (16th century); the Senatory Fountain (1619); and the San Ranieri Lighthouse (or Tower), from 1555.

Messina Apartments & Villas