Written by 1. Sunrise
If you are staying in Messina for more than two three days, you may want to see the breathtaking Sunrise through mountains of Calabria. If you are a travel blogger or a video maker you can get some great shots at this time.
2. Duomo di Messina – The Cathedral of Messina
Messina Cathedral is a Roman Catholic Cathedral located in Messina, Sicily. Duomo di Messina was Built during Norman time, it was consecrated by the Archbishop Berardo in 1197. Its history has been turbulent and it has been destroyed and rebuilt several times over the centuries.
Learn more about Duomo di Messina from this link —> https://www.messinarte.it/the-cathedral-of-messina/
3. Bel tower of Duomo di Messina
The bell tower of the Messina contains the biggest and most complex mechanical and astronomical clock in the world. The bel tower was Designed by the firm Ungerer of Strasbourg and it was inaugurated in 1933. Undoubtably, it is one of the city’s main attraction even today.
At noon a complex system of counterweights, leverages and gears, determines the movement of the gilded bronze statues located in clock. They are related to the civil and religious traditions of the city.
Today, people can go inside of the bel tower. Along the staircase, you can admire the bronze statues and the complex and ingenious system of leverages and gears that generate the movement of the clock. At the top you can appreciate a beautiful view over the city of Messina and its strait.
The mechanism moves every day at 12.00am and lasts 12 minutes. On every quarter hour the two heroines on the sides of the rooster, Dina and Clarenza, strike the quarters and the hours, and the carousel of ages moves.
Source from: https://www.messinarte.it/the-bell-tower-of-the-cathedral-of-messina/
4. Museum of Duomo di Messina
5. City view from Fiera di Messina
City view from Fiera di Messina is another good point to see the signature of the city. The video above was filmed in one of the rarest moment. Usually, from Messina you can see Calabria (the other side of strait of Messina). But, due to the extreme heat the day this video was filmed it was completely covered by the cloud known as “lupa di mare”.
6. Chiesa di San Giuliano – Church of Saint Julian
7. Teatro Emanuele – Théâtre Victor Emmanuel
Teatro Vittorio Emanuele is the main theatre in the city of Messina, the largest in Sicily for capacity among regional theatres.
Read more about the theatre http://www.teatrovittorioemanuele.it/storia-del-teatro/
8. Lago di Ganzirri – Lake of Ganzirri
Lago di Ganzirri could be a great place to visit and have a walk in the evening alone or with friends. Even more, Lago di Ganzirri is surrounded by some good restaurants. Here, you can enjoy your free time by devouring arancini and focaccia.
9. Check out some Beaches in Messina
If you are planning or travelling Messina during the summer time, it would be great to jump into some breathtaking seas. However, beaches in the north side of Messina are really amazing and, if you have enough time, you might want to visit Taormina. Taormina is a hilltop town on the east coast of Sicily and it is a small town in the province of Messina. It sits near Mount Etna, an active volcano with trails leading to the summit. The town is famous for the old theatre, an ancient Greek-Roman theater still used today. Near the theater, cliffs drop to the sea forming coves with sandy beaches. It is a great place to be, especially in evenings and it is attracted by thousands of tourists every year for the natural beauty it has to offer.
10. Mercato Vascone – Market Vascone
If you want to try some local and fresh vegetables, fruits, or fishes this is the place for you.
11. Try some traditional Sicilian foods and sweets such as Arancino, Focaccia and Cannoli.
- You may wonder what Arancinis are, well they are rice balls stuffed with sauce and peas. Nowadays, they have become popular throughout Italy and worldwide.
- what about Focaccia? Focaccia is a flat leavened oven-baked Italian bread, similar in style and texture to pizza. Even though Focaccia is similar in every place, they have different recipes across the country. Indeed, Palermo’s focaccia is slightly different than the Messina’s focaccia.
- Cannoli, this is the moment of truth! Cannoli is one of the most famous Sicilian recipe throughout the entire world. If you haven’t tried “real” Sicilian cannoli yet, I warmly invite you here in Sicily to try real cannoli.
Cannoli are Italian pastries consisting of tube-shaped shells of fried pastry dough, filled with a sweet, creamy filling usually containing ricotta.
For this video, I tried three cannoli, one filled with hazelnut cream, one with pistachio cream and one traditional cannolo which was filled with ricotta. - Last but not least, in this video I also tried some Sicilian sweets. I must admit that I really enjoyed those sweets because of some fresh fruits and cream. Want to order some Sicilian sweets when you will visit Sicily? Well, they are called “Dolci Siciliani”.
Click here to see our Portfolio about Messina
- GRANITA E BRIOCHE is something very popular in Italy during the summer. But what is Granita? Originating in Sicily, granita is a simple Italian dessert made of sweetened fruit purée that has been frozen and shaved into an icy, crystalized treat.
Where can you find Granita and Brioche? It’s not hard to find if you’ll visit Italy during the summer time. Most of the time you can find Granita and Brioche in coffee shops also called as “bar”. At this point you may wonder what brioche is, Brioche col tuppo or simply Brioche is a Sicilian pastry with a soft consistency and unmistakable round shape and aroma. in Sicily it is served with classic frozen granita for snack or breakfast -especially during the summer.
Granitas are made out of almost any fruit but the well known flavours are “strawberry and whipped cream top”, “lemon”, “coffee”, “pistachio” and “chocolate”.
For this video I tried out, pistachio and whipped cream on top with brioche. Yeah, It was truly delicious!!!
12. Santuario della Madonna di Dinnammare (The sanctuary of Our Lady of Dinnammare)
The sanctuary of Our Lady of Dinnammare stands on the top of 1130m mountain from the sea level. Sanctuary of the Madonna of Dinnammare contributes greatly to the social and religious ways of this place. It’s a nice place to enjoy a moment of prayer during a packed travel itinerary. The Monte Dinnammare (1130 m) is the mountain that dominates the city of Messina on the eastern edge of Sicily, belonging to the Peloritani range. From its top it is possible to enjoy the panorama of the two seas, Ionian and Tyrrhenian, the Aeolian Islands, the Strait of Messina and Mount Etna.
Every third day of August evening, a traditional procession starts from the village of Larderia in Messina to arrive at sunrise on the following day at the Sanctuary to celebrate the Madonna of Dinnammare with a mass.
13. View from the Monte Dinnammare
14. Messina’s City hall
15. Vara di Messina
If you are travelling or planning to visit Messina in August, on 15th of August there is “Vara di Messina”. Vara di Messina is a large votive chariot dedicated to Assumption of Mary carried in procession on August 15 of each year. Already in the first half of the 16th century a splendid festival took place in Messina that culminated with the procession, on August 15, of the Vara (formerly called Bara). The Bar, where lay the body of Assumption Mary, is high 13,5 m and weighs almost 8 tons and is lift in procession by the faithful who pull of long ropes. The rope, is long more than 100 meters. Further more, people wearing blue dresses is well noticeable to contribute their faith to the Madonna.
16. Tempio di Cristo Re
17. Sunset
As mentioned earlier in this article about the sunrise, you may not want to lose the astonishing sunset and one time experience as a tourist in Messina.
Thanks!