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Messina,
melting-pot of Italy
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Visit
a Messina steeped in tradition with echoes of its
Arab past.
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 Here
we are in Messina
on the trail of the Girovela, the round-Italy
sailing race. No advice this time on where to eat,
sleep, drink etc, but rather lots of pointers on
what you can do and see in this magnificent Mediterranean
port.
 First
stop is a jewel of a church, Annunziata
dei Catalani. Built in the late 12th
century and influenced by Arab-Norman architecture.
The church sprouts up out of the ground like a mushroom,
which is hardly surprising given that the level
of the land has greatly increased since the church
was erected in the 1100s. In the past the church
fell into the hands of an association of Catalan
merchants, from whom it takes its somewhat unusual
name.
 Let's
skip the well-documented Sicilian tradition of colourfully
painted
carts, concentrating instead on the lesser-known
tradition of Mata and Grifone, two huge statues
often seen in local festivals and processions. Mata
and Grifone are two figures, one a beautiful
young lady, the other a Saracen soldier, on horseback.
There are many versions of the legend of Mata and
Grifone, some say they were the true founders of
Messina, others that they were Muslim prisoners
taken by the mercenary soldier Ruggero D'Altavilla
in 1086. Our favourite, and the most popular one,
brings us back in time to 964, when Messina was
the last outpost in Sicily to resist Arab occupation.
During the siege of Messina the Arab general, Hassas
Ibn-Hammar, set his eyes upon Mata, the beautiful
daughter of a local merchant. He fell hopelessly
in love and forced her to marry him. The Saracen
did all he could to captivate Mata but nothing would
melt her heart until he converted to Christianity.
He changed his name to Grifo, and soon became known
as Grifone (Big Grifo) for obvious reasons. The
two, Mata and Grifone, needless to say, lived happily
ever after!
1. MESSINA's PORTS
Messina
Port News. Bi-lingual information
on the port of Messina.
Information at a glance on Messina's two ports:
Messina
porto and Marina
del Nettuno. Italian only but easy-to-understand
(even for the linguistically challenged).
2. SAILING
Federvela.it
Learn how to sail in one of the Italian
Sailing Federation's schools in Messina
and Sicily. Courses for beginners and experts.
3. INFORMATION
Messina
Lots of useful information about Messina
Weather
Forecast
Whatever the weather .. . in Messina and
area.
The
Strait of Messina
All you need to know about the much-talked about
bridge which is to span the Strait of Messina, connecting
Sicily with mainland Italy.
A web
cam on the Strait of Messina
Tourism
Hotels
Restaurants
Pizzerias
Wine
4. FUN FACT
Like many Italian towns and cities, Messina
has its own Madonna, La Madonna della Lettera
(Our Lady of the Letter), the patron saint of the
city. Messina's Madonna stands six metres high greeting
visitors as they arrive in the beautiful curved
harbour with the inscription: "Vos et ipsam
civitatem benedicimus" The statue was unveiled
on August 2nd 1934 and, thanks to Gugliemo
Marconi, is fitted with a special device which allows
it to be illuminated from the Vatican in Rome.
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DARIO
MORGANTE |
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July
2001
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THE SURVIVOR'S 
