Messina

Messina is the third largest city on the island of Sicily and the capital of the province of Messina. The city is located near the North-East corner of Sicily, at the Strait of Messina, just opposite Villa San Giovanni which is itself north of Reggio Calabria across the straits, on the mainland. The city's port is the main economical resource of Messina, as well as several shipyards. Agriculture, which also is an important part of the city's economy, includes cultivation of lemons, oranges, mandarin oranges and other fruit, vegetables and wine. The city has been a Roman Catholic Archdiocese and Archimandrite seat since 1548 and hosts a locally important International Fair.
Messina was founded by Greek Colonists in the 8th century BC. It was originally called Zancle from the Greek: ζάγκλον meaning "scythe", because of the shape of its natural harbour. However, in the early 5th century BC, Anaxilas of Rhegium renamed it Messene in honor of the Greek city Messene.  In 397 BC, the city was overrun by the Carthaginians, then reconquered by Dionysius I of Syracuse. At the end of the first Punic War it was a free city allied with Rome. After the fall of the Roman Empire, Messina was being conquered by the Goths, then by the Byzantine Empire, by the Arabs, and eventually by the Norman brothers Robert Guiscard and Roger Guiscard. In 1189 the English King Richard I stopped at Messina in his path towards the Holy Land and briefly occupied the city. In 1847 it was one of the first cities in Italy where Risorgimento riots broke out. On December 28, 1908, the city was almost entirely destroyed by an earthquake and associated tsunami that killed about 60,000 people and destroyed most of the ancient architecture.
Some of the major attractions in Messina are: the Cathedral, containing the remains of Conrad, king of Germany and Sicily in the 13th century, the Annunziata dei Catalani, Santa Maria degli Alemanni, a former chapel of Teutonic Knights, and the Sanctuary of Montevergine, where the incorrupt body of Saint Eustochia Smeralda Calafato rests.