2-995-613 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

Messina as seen from Calabria - from a sketch by the Hon. Major Fitzmaurice, 1860. 'Messina is situated on the north-east coast [of Sicily], opposite to Calabria, from which it is separated by the Channel of the Faro, here about four miles wide. The town of Messina is built partly on the slope of a steep hill, and partly along the seashore at the foot of it. The port is formed by a strip of sandy beach projecting into the sea at the south side of the city, and sweeping round in the form of a semicircle. On this narrow tract of land are the citadel, the lazaretto, the lighthouse, and the castle of Salvatore at the entrance of the harbour, which faces the north. The larger part of the town rises in the form of a crescent, on the west side of the harbour, which is more than two miles in circumference, and is one of the best in the Mediterranean. The view over the channel, the opposite coast of Calabria, with its towns and villages, and the lofty Apennines behind them, and, on the other side, the low promontory of Faro, with its tower, advancing into the sea as if to meet the Italian coast, form a splendid landscape, which is one of the finest even in that classic sea, whose shores are remarkable for a variety of beautiful scenery'. From "Illustrated London News", 1860.