Messina, Sicily
Arrived in Messina, Sicily. We also got back the time zone hour and with a later docking time, we got to sleep later. Whew.
The day clouded over but the rain did not start until we returned to the ship. Messina looks to be densely populated by the housing and it does have 250,000 people; third largest city in Italy. Much of the town was leveled in a massive earthquake in 1908. The church on the famous clock tower square was originally built by Normans, Arabs and Christians, a real multicultural undertaking. The reconstruction is quite true and accurate to the original. This church also has a 16,000 (!) pipe organ. We did not get to hear it.
On the square outside is the largest European mechanical and astrological clock tower. It was built in 1948. Every day at noon it puts on a mechanical and audio show of a religious and culturally symbolic nature. Very special to see.
We also toured the different neighborhoods. Lots of traffic with narrow two lane streets and lots of small cars.
Third largest city in Italy, second smallest car.
Multi-cultural architecture on the Piazza Catalani: Star of David in the Arabic tiling on an Italian building.
This is the mechanical clock tower. Click on the picture to see a video of it in action.
First you will see and hear the lion roar, then the rooster crow, then the parade of saints.
The ceiling of the church next to the clock tower. A lot of detail going on there.
Some exterior detail on the building.
One you don’t have Internet or streaming channels, you have time to create this and the previous ceiling.
One of the highest elevations in Messina. A church of course,
