Messina Cathedral

Henry VI, Holy Roman Emperor and Constance I of Sicily were present to witness the ceremony.

[1] Only the perimeter walls, the Gothic portal and an apse remained standing after the catastrophic earthquake which also destroyed surrounding edifices in Piazza Duomo.

Until 1678 (the year of the end of the anti-Spanish revolt and the signing of the Peace of Nijmegen , with which the city was reconquered by Spain ), the base of the bell tower housed precious parchment documents containing the historical memories of the city, brought to Spain to the monastery of El Escorial along with many other works of art.

More than 65 metres high, in the shape of a tower with a cusp roof, lightened on all sides by pairs of mullioned windows with pointed arches, it contains a magnificent animated clock, a true mechanical jewel, commissioned by Archbishop Angelo Paino from the Ungerer company of Strasbourg in 1933.

The first, third and fifth bells are electrified in the fast Veronese style (without the possibility of going to the cup, however) while the others are fixed but are equipped with hammers.