15 Sights in Messina, Italy (with Map and Images)

The Jerusalem and Palatine Church of San Giovanni di Malta - San Placido e Compagni Martiri is a place of worship in Messina, Italy, located in Via San Giovanni di Malta. Belonging to the Archdiocese of Messina-Lipari-Santa Lucia del Mela, Vicariate of Messina Centro under the patronage of Our Lady of the Letter. It was once a Benedictine abbey, the first to be built in Sicily.

Wikipedia: Chiesa di San Giovanni di Malta (Messina) (IT)

The church of Santa Maria della Valle, known as La Badiazza, is a religious building in Messina located in the bed of the Badiazza stream called "a' ciumara" or the river, three miles outside the city of Messina, along the route of the Peloritani mountains at the foot of the San Rizzo hills.

Wikipedia: Chiesa di Santa Maria della Valle (Messina) (IT), Website

The Fountain of Orion is a monumental fountain in Messina created by Giovanni Angelo Montorsoli, dating back to 1553 and executed in collaboration with Domenico Vanello, it is located in Piazza Duomo.

Wikipedia: Fontana di Orione (IT)

The Norman church of Santa Maria di Mili is one of the oldest examples of Norman religious architecture in Sicily and the city of Messina. The church, with the adjoining former monastery, stands on the left bank of the Mili stream near the village of Mili San Pietro, in the municipality of Messina.

Wikipedia: Chiesa di Santa Maria di Mili (IT)

The sanctuary of the Madonna di Dinnammare stands on the top of the mountain of the same name, 1127 meters high, which is part of the Peloritani mountain range. The name Dinnammare derives from the Latin term "bimaris", since from its summit it is possible to enjoy the view of the two seas, the Ionian and the Tyrrhenian Seas. Other studies attribute its meaning as purely Arabic, deriving in fact from Dinammar composed of din combined with a proper name, 'Ammar, a frequent name in medieval documents, the ancient owner of those places therefore '(land given) in reward to 'Ammar'. From the square of the church you can admire the city of Messina in all its grandeur and the strait in its majesty. Turning your gaze to the Tyrrhenian side, it is possible to observe the bay of Milazzo and the volcanic Aeolian Islands.

Wikipedia: Santuario della Madonna di Dinnammare (IT), Website

The church of Santa Caterina di Valverde, also known as the church of Santa Caterina Vergine e Martire, is a place of worship in Messina, located in Via Centonze near Via Garibaldi. Belonging to the Archdiocese of Messina-Lipari-Santa Lucia del Mela, Vicariate of Messina Centro under the patronage of Our Lady of the Letter, Archpriest of Messina, Parish of Santa Caterina di Valverde.

Wikipedia: Chiesa di Santa Caterina di Valverde (IT)

The "Sanctuary of Our Lady of Mount Carmel", better known as Carmine Church, is a Roman Catholic church in Via Porta Imperiale, Messina, Sicily. It replaces the former church, which was razed by the 1908 Messina earthquake. Located close to the Tribunal, the Carmine Church was rebuilt in 1930 in the eighteenth century Baroque or Rococo style. Designed by the architect Cesare Bazzani, the church was reconsecrated on 15 July 1931.

Wikipedia: Chiesa del Carmine, Messina (EN)

The column of the Immaculate Conception or statue of the Immaculate Conception or spire of the Immaculate Conception or obelisk of the Immaculate Conception is a monument in Messina located in Piazza dell'Immacolata familiarly known and called in the city as Piazza Immacolata di Marmo, located on the north side of the cathedral behind the bell tower.

Wikipedia: Statua dell'Immacolata (Messina) (IT)

The church of the Santissima Annunziata is a church in Messina, in Camaro Inferiore, which has its origins in the eighteenth century. Damaged by the earthquake of 28 December 1908, it was replaced by a church-shack on the opposite bank of the Camaro stream. Rebuilt in the thirties, not far from its original site, it consists of three naves and is completely in Romanesque style. Inside it is possible to admire the canvas of the Annunciation by the famous painter Adolfo Romano dating back to 1919, four frontals in Baroque style, two eighteenth-century statues depicting the Virgin of Sorrows and St. Louis, some sacred vases dating back to the seventeenth-eighteenth century and various liturgical furnishings in gilded wood including a chair, in the main apse, of the eighteenth century.

Wikipedia: Chiesa della Santissima Annunziata (Camaro Inferiore) (IT)

Messina Cathedral is a Roman Catholic cathedral located in Messina, Sicily. Formerly the episcopal seat of the Diocese of Messina, it became in 1986 the archiepiscopal seat of the Archdiocese of Messina-Lipari-Santa Lucia del Mela.

Wikipedia: Messina Cathedral (EN)

The fountain of the Aquarium - popularly called the fountain of Gennaro - is a monument in Messina, dating back to the early seventeenth century. Initially located at the intersection of Corso and Via del Collegio, it is now located in the square of the same name, between Corso Cavour and Via XXIV Maggio. After restoration work, it was returned to the city in 2015.

Wikipedia: Fontana di Gennaro (IT)

John of Austria or Don Giovanni d'Austria is a monumental sculpture in bronze, originally gilded, of John of Austria by architect and sculptor Andrea Calamech, a native of Carrara who trained in the Florentine workshop of Bartolomeo Ammannati. Its erection was decided by the Senate of Messina in 1571 to honor the victor of the Battle of Lepanto, from which many Messineses had benefited, and it was dedicated in 1572. William Stirling-Maxwell called it "one of the most effective monuments of sixteenth-century art". On the sides of the pedestal are bronze plaques depicting the fleet, the battle, and the fleet's victorious return to Messina as well as an inscription. John is figured holding a three-pronged baton in reference to his command of the triple alliance of Philip II, the Pope, and the Republic of Venice, with his foot on the severed head of a vanquished Turk generally considered to be Müezzinzade Ali Pasha.

Wikipedia: John of Austria (Messina) (EN)

The Museo Interdisciplinare Regionale (MuMe). or Regional Museum of Messina (Italian - Museo regionale interdisciplinare di Messina), is an art museum located on the northern coast of the city of Messina, Sicily, Italy. MuMe illustrates the development of art and culture in Messina from the 12th to the 18th centuries, with outstanding figures such as the renowned artists Andrea della Robbia, Antonello da Messina, Girolamo Alibrandi, Caravaggio (Michelangelo Merisi), and Polidoro da Caravaggio.

Wikipedia: Interdisciplinary Regional Museum of Messina (EN), Website

Forte Castellaccio is an abandoned hilltop fortress in Messina, Sicily built by Juan de Vega, Viceroy of Sicily around the middle of the 16th Century as part of a defensive project ordered by Emperor Charles V of Habsburg. It was designed by the Italian military architect Antonio Ferramolino. It was damaged by the 1908 Messina earthquake before being briefly reused as a 'colony for boys' in the 1940s. Despite several attempts to renovate the site since, it has remained abandoned and considered locally to be haunted by the ghosts of orphans and by the apparition of a nun.

Wikipedia: Forte Castellaccio (Messina) (EN)

Forte Gonzaga, also known as Castel Gonzaga, is a bastioned fort in Messina, Sicily. It was built in the mid-16th century, and it remained in use by the military until 1973. Today, the fort is in good condition.

Wikipedia: Forte Gonzaga (EN)