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Cities Information
MESSINA
| Region |
Sicily |
| Capital |
Messina |
| Total Population |
641,753 |
| Males |
308,348 |
| Females |
333,405 |
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Messina and the best of Sicily
The province of Messina covers an area of 3,247.34 square
kilometres with as far as 108 cities that include places of
highest historical and naturalistic interest Despite numerous
disasters, as were a devastating earthquake in 1908 and different
ravaging wars, the city of Messina managed to regain its former
splendor, today combined with a modern urban planning. The Madonna
della Lettera is the Saint patron of the province’s capital city.
The ruins of the church of Santa Maria d’Alemanna are particularly
worth-mentioning. Having miraculously survived ravages of time,
wars and natural disasters, they represent rare specimens of the
Gothic art.
Originally named Zancle, a Greek colony founded in the 8th century
BC, Messina counts today about 270,000 inhabitants. It boasts a
renowned cuisine that much owes to centuries of intense commercial
and cultural exchanges. Rice and cod-fish are among the city’s
best appreciated foods, used as integral ingredients in many
dishes. Other specialties are most renowned, such as the
sword-fish and mint or lamb and vegetables pasta, that are then
flavored with delicious sauces. Some patisserie specialties are
also worth-mentioning, most notably the Riso Nero (black rice) and
the Crocchette di riso (rice croquettes). 
Messina in the past was a major stop in
the Mediterranean trade routes and had been representing a
crossroad of cultural and artistic exchanges, able to provide a
dynamic and stimulating environment to important artists, among
which the most important certainly is Antonello da Messina. In
more recent times, several natural catastrophes hit the city,
notably two earthquakes in 1783 and 1908, the latter razing 9/10
of it to the ground, provoking as many as 60,000 dead. During the
Second World War it was subjected to intensive bombing raids.
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Museums