Messina

Messina (mās-sē`nä), city (1991 pop. 231,693), capital of Messina prov., NE Sicily, Italy, on the Strait of Messina, opposite the Italian mainland. It is a busy seaport and a commercial and light industrial center. Manufactures include processed food, chemicals, pharmaceuticals, and construction materials. Founded (late 8th cent. B.C.) by Greek colonists and named Zancle, the city was captured (5th cent. B.C.) by Anaxilas of Rhegium and renamed Messana. It became involved in several wars, particularly against Syracuse and Carthage, and was taken in 282 B.C. by mercenaries called Mamertines. The Romans answered an appeal for help from the Mamertines and intervened in Sicily, thus precipitating the first of the Punic Wars. Messina was subsequently allied with Rome, and it shared the history of the rest of Sicily. The city was conquered by the Arabs in the late 9th cent. A.D. but was liberated by the Normans in 1061. It developed a thriving silk industry (which declined in the 18th cent.). Messina later came under the rule of the Angevins, the Aragonese, and the Spanish Bourbons. A heroic insurrection against the Bourbons took place from 1774 to 1778. Garibaldi took Messina in July, 1860, but the Bourbon garrison resisted in the citadel until Mar., 1861. The city suffered a severe plague in 1743 and major earthquakes in 1783 and 1908. The earthquake of Dec. 28, 1908, destroyed 90% of Messina's buildings, including fine churches and palaces, and cost about 80,000 lives; afterward the city was completely rebuilt in conformity with standards for quake-resistant construction. In World War II, the Sicilian campaign ended with the fall of Messina to the Allies on Aug. 17, 1943. Of interest in the city are the Norman-Romanesque cathedral (rebuilt after 1908) and the National Museum. Messina has a university, founded in 1548.

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Messina

 ancient Zankle

City (pop., 2001 prelim.: 236,621), northeastern Sicily, Italy. Founded by Greeks in the 8th century BC, it was destroyed by Carthaginians in 397 BC. The Romans took the rebuilt city in 264 BC, precipitating the First Punic War. After the war it became a free city allied with Rome. It was taken successively by the Goths, Byzantines, Arabs, Normans, Spaniards, and finally (in 1860) Italians. Heavily bombed during World War II, it was rebuilt. It is now an important Italian port. Sites of interest include the cathedral and the university (founded 1548).

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Messina

a port in NE Sicily, on the Strait of Messina: colonized by Greeks around 730 bc; under Spanish rule (1282--1676 and 1678--1713); university (1549). Pop.: 252 026 (2001)