[3] Canon Antonio Amico wrote extensively on the history of Messina in the seventeenth century.

On 11 January 1693, a major earthquake struck the eastern coast of Sicily from Messina to Syracuse; twenty-nine people died, and destruction extended to the Royal Palace, the Episcopal Palace, the Seminary, and there was severe damage to the Church of S. Francesco.

The cathedral, Episcopal Palace, seminary, a large part of the hospital, most of the palazzi in the Teatro Maritima, and convents and monasteries (including the Certosa of S. Bruno and the Convent of S. Dominico Soriano) were damaged or destroyed.

[6] On 28 December 1908 a major earthquake struck Messina, destroying the Cathedral, the seminary, and numerous other buildings.

Like its predecessors, and like all of the cathedrals in the Kingdom of Naples, it was dedicated to the Assumption of the Body of the Virgin Mary into Heaven.

[10] The most famous monastery in the diocese of Messina was that of the Holy Savior (S. Salvatoris, San Salvatore), which had been founded by the Norman Count Roger in 1059, and was under the leadership of Fr.

Their abbot bore the Greek title Archimandrite, and he acquired preeminence and control over all of the Basilian monks in Sicily and Calabria.