Sicily
2015

Messina
2015

The harbor at Messina

The port of Messina - in the background is Reggio Calabria on the Italian mainlaind (shortest crossing is two miles)

The golden Madonna della Lettura stands in fhe former Fort San Salvatore - the inscritpion menas "We bless you and your city," the closing words of a letter from the Virgin Mary sent to the population of Messina in the year 42.

Governor's Palace

City Hall

Fontana di Orione near the cathedral

Santuario della Madonna di Montalto 

Fishing village of Ganzirri just north of Messina

Fishing village of Ganzirri just north of Messina

Fishing village of Ganzirri just north of Messina

Fishing village of Ganzirri just north of Messina

Perhaps a name change? I was tempted to try the rabbit

Cathedral of Messina

The Cathedral dates from the 12th century, contains the remains of king Conrad, ruler of Germany and Sicily in the 13th century. The building had to be almost entirely rebuilt in 1919-1920, following the devastating 1908 earthquake, and again in 1943, after a fire triggered by Allied bombings. 

The façade has three late Gothic portals, the central of which probably dates back to the early 15th century.

Messina Clocktower

The bell tower of the Cathedral of Messina contains the biggest and most complex mechanical and astronomical clock in the world. Designed by the firm Ungerer of Strasbourg, it was inaugurated in 1933 and is the city’s main attraction.

At noon a complex system of counterweights, leverages and gears, determines the movement of the gilded bronze statues located in the façade. They are related to the civil and religious traditions of the city.

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.

Italian Navy and Coast Guard in the harbor

Museum of Messina

Trapani
2015

Trapani on the west coast of Sicily

City Hall

Customs

Guardia di Finanza

Erice
2015

Erice is located on top of Mount Erice, at around 2500 feet above sea level, overlooking the city of Trapani, the low western coast towards Marsala, the dramatic Punta del Saraceno and Capo San Vito to the north-east, and the Aegadian Islands on Sicily's north-western coast, providing spectacular views.