Messina Round In Sicily

Messina feels similar to a river cruise port.  Rather than being in an industrial-looking area as oft can be the case for large ships, Regal Princess tied up in the heart of this lovely city, which has about 220,000 residents.

We still had a relatively long walk to clear the secure dock area surrounded by fences, but the ship remained visible from most parts of the city where we walked.

The beautiful architecture of Messina exudes the glamor of a Roman Empire city from the ancient past, but it has not aged with erosion and wear, because in fact it has been rebuilt not that long ago.

A huge earthquake and subsequent tidal wave destroyed most of the city on December 28, 1908.  That catastrophic climate combination punch brings to mind Lisbon, which suffered a similar fate on November 1, 1755.  Unfortunately, there will be another climate disaster one day, but the next time pundits will by rote blame it on manmade global warming.

In any case, Messina was lovingly rebuilt from the rubble.

As we were walking through the cruise terminal, a local hostess handed us a plain paper diagram map of Messina and with a green highlighter quickly drew a circle around an area including the Piazza del Duomo and Cathedral, where we would focus, plus a few more distant landmarks.

We couldn't identify every lovely building we passed, but it proved to be a very pleasant stroll, never feeling unsafe.

There was some kind of military training exercise happening in the morning, with armed forces personnel, weapons and vehicles.  I don't know if this and the military showing in Cavtat, Croatia, that we'd witnessed a couple of days earlier were related to each other or had anything to do with the war in Ukraine, but they didn't make us feel unsafe.

Wars have been fought in Europe throughout the ages, and the island of Sicily has not had an exemption, so they must be prepared. 

As Messina was being carefully rebuilt after the devastating earthquake of 1908, including restoring the beautiful Cathedral and its magnificent tile artwork, World War I was already unfolding.

In another part of Italy, a young anti-imperialist, anti-nationalist hothead was protesting against Italy entering World War I.  In 1918, that idealist decided Italy must defend France or it would be a "deathblow to liberty in Europe."

Despite --- or perhaps because of --- flipflops on this and other major issues, Benito Mussolini became the youngest Prime Minister in the history of Italy in late 1922.

His administration oversaw the building of Sacrario di Cristo Re on a hill in Messina.  It included a memorial to heroes of World War I which eventually included ten times as many heroes from World War II, with most of those having died during the defense of Messina in 1943.

Of course, in the second world war, Italy fought on the side of the Axis against the Allies, who were battling to liberate France.  Apparently Mussolini had no sense of irony nor shame.

The strategic value of Messina's port made it the target for 6,500 tons of Allied bombs, contributing to the defeat of Mussolini's Fascist government and eventually the other Axis powers.

A third of the city was destroyed, but after the war, Messina was rebuilt again.  

The most unique feature in this lovely city is the astrological clock tower at Messina Cathedral.

The Norman Cathedral was originally built in the 1100s, but the clock tower was actually constructed in 1933 by Ungerer Company of Strasbourg.

With Strasbourg's nearby Black Forest known for cuckoo clocks, they brought expertise to make this tower essentially a monumental-scale cuckoo clock.

Yes, that giant cuckoo clock was also constructed during Mussolini's reign, which was tyrannical but did oversee many successful public works projects. 

Many believe that if Mussolini had not gone so cuckoo himself, he might be considered to be a hero by history.

Julie and I were among dozens of tourists who gathered in the Piazza beside the clock tower to watch the mechanical show.

It lasts several minutes, and purportedly the Biblical scenes depicted change depending on the day of the week and season of the year.

While preparing for this trip, I had thoughts of going on a Viator Tour to sites associated with The Godfather, but we had enjoyed walking around on our own so much in other ports by the time we reached Sicily, that thought had perished.

We found plenty to hold our interest in Messina without an excursion. 

Julie printed out a number of pages about top-rated tourist attractions in Italy, and while sometimes treks uphill seemed to go on a bit too long and paths between hilltops had us walking back down before walking up again, we enjoyed a lovely day under sunny Mediterranean skies.

We didn't hesitate to head back to the nearby Regal Princess for a very tasty lunch with a panoramic view of Messina.

We felt like we had enjoyed a full day of touring --- and more than a full day of walking and hiking --- so instead of returning to shore, we settled into a hot tub to soak in the the views while sipping tropical drinks.  After all, a cruise isn't a race to see the most but an opportunity to savor the best wherever you go.