What does "Strait of Messina" mean?

We approach in the dark to the Strait of Messina. From the side of Calabria, solid lines of lights of the city of Reggio di Calabria are visible. They rise high above the sea. Obviously, these are houses on the mountains. But there were also lights from the side of Sicily. Soon there are a lot of them, a brightly lit embankment is visible. This is the city of Messina, the second largest city in Sicily after Palermo, the capital of the island. Messina has about 300 thousand inhabitants.

The course of the Vityaz dropped sharply - from 12 knots to seven. This is the influence of a strong oncoming current going south.

The Strait of Messina separates the island of Sicily from the peninsula of Calabria. The shores of the strait are hilly, formed by spurs of mountains lying at some distance from the coastline. On the Italian side, these are the Calabrian Apennines. The mountains of Sicily are lower. The strait leads from south to north, from the Ionian Sea to the Tyrrhenian. In the Strait of Messina there are constant currents and tidal currents. When they add up, the flow velocity is greatest. The current, directed to the north, is called montante, directed to the south, into the Ionian Sea, - shendente. On the eastern coast of the strait, where the city and harbor of Reggio di Calabria are located, the speed of the montante reaches 4–5 knots, and even 6–7 knots in winter. The length of the Strait of Messina is about 40 km, the width is from 3.5 to 22 km. Greatest depth reaches 115 m. Due to the complex and changeable currents in the strait, strong whirlpools are observed, which are sensitive to small vessels.

Ancient Greek mythology inhabited the Strait of Messina with two monsters that lived on both sides of the narrow strait and killed passing sailors - Scylla and Charybdis. Scylla, who had six heads, grabbed rowers from ships sailing by, and Charybdis, sucking water at a great distance, swallowed ships along with water. The expression "to be between Scylla and Charybdis" means to be in danger from both sides.

The name of the national hero of Italy, a revolutionary and a tireless fighter for the unification of his homeland, Giuseppe Garibaldi, is associated with the strait. Garibaldi was an outstanding commander who accomplished many feats in his life. He was banished to South America, where he participated in the fight against reactionary regimes, and returning to his homeland, he made the most significant among his military campaigns. I mean victories in Sicily and Naples. King Victor Emmanuel II of Piedmont and his Prime Minister Cavour were ready to help Garibaldi, but only if his enterprise was successful.

Sailing in May 1860 from Genoa with 1,000 weakly armed volunteers, Garibaldi landed in Sicily, which then belonged to the Neapolitan king, one of the strongholds of reaction in Italy. Supported by the people, primarily by the peasantry, whom Garibaldi liberated from feudalism and slavery, he defeated the regular army of the king of Naples in a series of battles, took Palermo, the capital of the island, and other cities. Having mastered Sicily, Garibaldi, along with his volunteers, crossed the Strait of Messina. After landing in Calabria, without giving the enemy a moment's respite, he fought his way to Naples, taking this very Big city then Italy. After a decisive victory over the Austrian army on the Volturno River, north of Naples, having already 30 thousand people under his command, Garibaldi handed over all Southern Italy King of Piedmont Victor Emmanuel II, who was proclaimed king of a united Italy. Having completed his life's work, Garibaldi returned to the secluded island of Caprera, near Sardinia, refusing all awards and honors.

Sicily, the largest of the Mediterranean islands, is separated from Africa by the Strait of Tunis. This is a mountainous island. Its highest point is active volcano Etna 3274 m a.s.l. seas. The top of the volcano is in the area of ​​eternal snows. But since the volcano is active, the falling snow quickly melts even in winter time. During strong eruptions, lava flows along its eastern slopes flow into the sea. The slopes of the volcano are dotted with cracks and craters, but some of them are free from solidified lava flows, and various crops are grown on their fertile soils. Etna is not visible from the Strait of Messina.

The vegetation on the island is subtropical. In some places, forests of chestnut, oak, and beech are still preserved, which rise in the mountains to a height of 1300–1500 m. Once upon a time lush forests grew here, now they have been cut down. Fishing is developed on the island, in particular tuna fishing. The population of Sicily reaches 5 million people.

Messina, like other cities in the Mediterranean, has experienced a turbulent history. The city was founded around 730 BC. e. Greek colonists - immigrants from the island of Euboea and named Zancla. About 432 BC. e. it was renamed Messena (in Greek), in Italian Messina. After the fall of the Western Roman Empire, it was occupied by the Goths, Byzantines (535), Arabs (842). It was owned and, of course, robbed by crusaders led by Richard the Lionheart. Messina passed into the hands of the French, Spaniards, Neapolitans. It was finally released by Giuseppe Garibaldi in 1860 and became part of the Italian kingdom.

Messina suffered not only from the conquerors, but also from various disasters - plague, cholera, and strong earthquakes - in 1783 and especially in 1908. I will dwell on the last earthquake. It has long remained in the memory of the people.

Early in the morning of December 28, 1908, a strong underground shock (one of the strongest recorded earthquakes) completely destroyed blooming city and ruined the lives of about 84 thousand people, that is, almost the entire population of the city. A seismic wave passed through the Strait of Messina and also destroyed the city of Reggio di Calabria. A feature of this destruction was that the facades of the houses largely survived, while the internal parts of the buildings were destroyed. These surviving facades are still visible in some places. The city was in a terrible state. Fires broke out, residents were deprived of food, water and medical care. The first to come to their aid were Russian sailors from the Bogatyr cruiser, and then from other ships of the approaching Russian squadron - from the Admiral Makarov and Slava cruisers. Here is what a correspondent of the Moscow newspaper Russkoye Slovo, who happened to be there, wrote in the issue of January 6 (19), 1909:

“We made our way to the embankment. Here, a fresh breeze from the sea slightly carries the cadaverous smell. The embankment is almost completely destroyed. The shore dropped by 2 meters. Water is distributed to the population near the destroyed market. In bottles, hats, clay shards, thirsty people grab the precious liquid (the water supply is destroyed). “Let’s go to the right, guys, no one has looked farther there yet,” Russian speech is heard next to me. We were overtaken by Russian sailors from the Bogatyr cruiser.

Sailors in white canvas shirts, tall, broad-shouldered, stood out sharply among the generally undersized Sicilians. The Russian squadron came to Messina first, and during December 28 and 29 it was the only real help to the victims. They dismantled multi-ton heaps of stone, saving the buried alive.

We must pay tribute to the determination of Admiral Litvinov, who, without waiting for instructions from St. Petersburg, moved the squadron to the burning ruined city to save people. When the Admiral Makarov and other ships arrived in Messina, only Russian sailors provided assistance to the victims. All the ships that were in the roadstead weighed anchor and left.

In five days, according to rough estimates by the Russian headquarters, about 2.5 thousand people were saved by Russian teams, but in reality the number was more. "Makarov" and "Slava" twice took the wounded to Naples. They transported about 2 thousand people.

A dressing station was organized on the shore, giving first aid. During the first two or three days, only from the Russians did the inhabitants receive food - bread, porridge and water. It is terrible to think what would have happened to the unfortunate people if not for this help.

There was another kind of service. Sailors from the Makarov rescued a Sicilian bank with 25 million lire. By chance, the cash desk was only easily covered, and looters were already getting to it when a small Russian team arrived in time. Lifting the fireproof box, the sailors began to transfer it to the Makarov. But they were attacked by robbers. Only by chance, thanks to the fact that a military patrol was passing by, was it possible to deliver money to Makarov. They were soon handed over to the Italian authorities in Naples."

... At about 5 o'clock in the morning we passed along the northwestern tip of the Strait of Messina, which is at the toe of the "Italian boot", in Calabria. Sicily is already behind the stern. We pass by the Aeolian, or Aeolian, islands. This group volcanic islands already in the Tyrrhenian Sea, north of Sicily, belongs to Italy. The Aeolian Islands are inhabited. About 20 thousand people live on them. The population is mainly engaged in the cultivation of olive and fig trees (figs).

I am interested, of course, in the volcanic islands of Vulcano and especially Stromboli. Stromboli is a constantly active volcano, the surface part of its cone forms an island. The volcano emits gases and bombs with short breaks. Lava flows occasionally, mostly basalt. Last thing strong eruption was in 1933. But Stromboli never sleeps. Clouds of steam and gas ejected by the volcano, illuminated at night by red-hot lava, are visible at a distance. For this he received the name of the lighthouse of the Mediterranean. At night, a reddish glow is always visible over the crater of the Stromboli volcano.

We were lucky. Looking into the darkness of the night that had not yet passed, we could see red flashes from the starboard side, and by checking the map, we were convinced that this was the Stromboli volcano.

The Strait of Messina, which separates Sicily from peninsular Italy, was called the Strait of Scylla and Charybdis by ancient sailors. Where did such a name come from? It turns out that it arose as a warning about the terrible monsters that lived in the narrowness of the strait.

Let us recall the prophecy of Kirke (Circe), included by Homer in the twelfth song of the Odyssey: “After you will meet two rocks: up to the wide sky / One rises with a sharp peak, clouds surround / Darkly condensed that height, never thinning. / There is never any light in summer or autumn / The air<…>Terrible Skilla lives there from time immemorial<…>To approach it / It is terrible not only to people, but also to the most immortal. Twelve / Moves in front of her paws; on shaggy shoulders / Six long, curving necks rise; and on each / Neck a head sticks out, and on the jaws in three rows of teeth, / Frequent, sharp, full of black death, sparkle;<…>Not a single navigator could pass by her unharmed / With an easy ship to pass: all the toothy mouths gaping, / At once she steals six people from the ship. / Closely you will see another rock, Odysseus the many-glorious: / Below it; it is separated from the first one by a shot from a bow. / A fig tree grows wildly on that rock with a wide shadow. / Terribly the whole sea under that rock disturbs Charybdis, / Three times a day absorbing and three times a day spewing out / Black moisture. Don't you dare get close when it's consuming<…>Hold on to the rock closer to Skillina, passing without looking back / Past the fast ship: it’s more gratifying to lose six for you / Companions than suddenly to sink the ship and die / To everyone ”(Translated by V.A. Zhukovsky).

According to other legends, Scilla was originally a beautiful Sicilian girl. Many enviable suitors wooed her, but she refused everyone. Once she went to swim in the sea, and she was seen by Glaucus, the son of the sea god Poseidon and the sea deity himself: half-man, half-fish. He immediately flared up with a hot passion for the young girl and tried to declare his love to her, but Skilla, frightened by the outlandish appearance of a strange creature, ran away. Then Glaucus turned to the sorceress Kirke for help. He asked the witch for a love potion, but Kirke herself was in love with Glaucus. And the fact that her lover preferred a mortal woman deeply offended her. Then instead of a love potion, she prepared an insidious mixture. Kirke generously scattered her powder in the water of a secluded spring on the coast, where Skilla liked to splash after sea baths. And when the girl once again entered the waters of the fertile spring, she noticed how terrible dog muzzles with bared mouths, sparkling sharp teeth appeared around. Seized with fear, Skilla tried to get ashore, but the dogs rushed after her, shaking their terrible heads on snake necks. A few more moments, and these heads stuck forever to the girl's legs. Skilla was seized with despair, she threw herself into the sea and sailed away from her native shore, found a cave on a lonely rock in the strait, just opposite the place where Charybdis lived, and began to live there, collecting a terrible tribute from passing ships.

At first, Charybdis was also a carnal being, although of divine origin: Hellenic mythology calls her parents Poseidon and Gaia. But the girl from childhood became addicted to theft and, moreover, was distinguished by a monstrous insatiability. Once she stole several red cows from Hercules, which the hero recaptured from the giant Geryon, and immediately ate them. As punishment, Zeus turned the glutton into a sea whirlpool near the Calabrian coast, which sucks in everything that comes within its reach.

At its narrowest point, in the north, between Gandzirri and Punta Pedzo, the strait is only 3.15 km wide. Here are also noted minimum depths: 80-120 m; hydrologists call this place the "saddle" of the strait, from which the depth increases relatively slowly to the north and rather quickly increases to the south: about 500 m on the traverse of Messina and over 2000 m in view of Taormina.

Who taught the Greeks to swim the Strait of Messina, we do not know. Most likely, seafaring experience accumulated by generations affected here. The ancient historian Polybius attributed this art to the lord of the winds, Aeolus, and claimed that it was a man. Eol, according to the historian, perfectly studied the behavior of the tides: the interaction of tidal waves coming from opposite directions led to the formation of numerous whirlpools and made the water area dangerous for swimming.

For the sailing and rowing ships of the Homeric era, such speeds were an insurmountable test. It is clear that the Greeks inhabited the strait with terrible monsters. Needless to say, the strait does not pose such a danger to modern ships. Furthermore, and people, it turns out, are not so scary.

In July 2009, an eight-year-old boy, Rosolino Cannio, swam across the narrowest point in just 58 minutes.

Nevertheless, the water artery remains an unfortunate obstacle to the movement of people and goods. The lack of a permanent and reliable connection with the mainland is considered one of the reasons for the economic backwardness of Sicily. Therefore, for a long time people have thought about connecting the island with the rest of Italy by a bridge.

The first such attempt was made by the Roman consul Lucius Caecilius Metellus, who ordered in 251 BC. e. to build a floating bridge of boats and barrels, on the floor of which 140 elephants captured from the Carthaginians in the battle of Palermo were transferred to Italy, in order to later lead the fanged giants through the streets of victorious Rome.

But a floating bridge would interfere with navigation, and the idea was abandoned for a whole millennium. Only under Charlemagne did it briefly reappear in the heads of the rulers.

Two centuries later, the Norman engineer Roberto Guiscardo, aka Robert d, Hauteville-la-Guichard, even began construction, but death prevented him from finishing the work, and the construction of the bridge was forgotten for another eight centuries. After the unification of Italy, in 1866, the famous Italian bridge engineer Alfredo Cottrau received from the Ministry public works order for a bridge project over the Strait of Messina. Thus began a long epic of more or less successful projects.

The construction of the bridge is to start in 2010 and be completed in 2016. The capacity of the road closure will be from 6,000 to 9,000 vehicles per hour, and the capacity of the railway track will be up to 200 trains per day (in both directions).

Strait of Messina

Strait of Messina

(Strait of Messina), between Apennine peninsula . and about. Sicily in the Mediterranean. connects Tyrrhenian And ionian sea. Length 33 km, width 3–22 km, navigable depth 72–1220 m, prevailing 500–600 m. Sicily - Messina , on the Calabria Peninsula - Reggio di Calabria. Constant currents are weak and two-layer in depth: to the top. layer on S., in the bottom. - in the south. Tides up to 0.5–0.6 m. Near the coast of the strait - strong tidal currents over 9 km/h. In combination with coastal cliffs and shallows they create very dangerous water cycles for navigation. Related to this is ancient Greek mythology a legend about two monsters - Scylla and Charybdis - who lived in the narrowest part of the strait on opposite shores, they destroyed ships and devoured sailors.

Dictionary of modern geographical names. - Yekaterinburg: U-Factoria. Under the general editorship of Acad. V. M. Kotlyakova. 2006 .

Strait of Messina

in the Mediterranean, between peninsula and the island of Sicily (Italy). Connects the Ionian Sea with the Tyrrhenian. Length 33 km, latitude from 3 to 22 km, depth of the navigable part from 72 to 1220 m, 500–600 m predominate. with coastal rocks. From them came the ancient Greek. myths about monsters (Scylla and Charybdis) that captured ships and devoured sailors. Ports - Messina and Reggio di Calabria (Italy).

Geography. Modern illustrated encyclopedia. - M.: Rosman. Under the editorship of prof. A. P. Gorkina. 2006 .

See what the "Strait of Messina" is in other dictionaries:

Between the Apennine Peninsula and about. Sicily. Connects Ionian and Tyrrhenian Sea. Length approx. 40 km, width 3.5 22 km. The smallest depth is 115 m. Whirlpools of Scylla and Charybdis. Main ports: Messina, Reggio di Calabria… Big Encyclopedic Dictionary

Coordinates: 38°14′45″ s. sh. 15°37′57″ E  / 38.245833° N sh. 15.6325° E etc. ... Wikipedia

Between the Apennine Peninsula and the island of Sicily. Connects the Ionian and Tyrrhenian Seas. Length about 40 km, width 3.5 22 km. The smallest depth is 115 m. Whirlpools of Scylla and Charybdis. Main ports: Messina, Reggio di Calabria. * * * MESSINA… … encyclopedic Dictionary

The strait between the Apennine Peninsula and about. Sicily. Connects the Ionian Sea with the Tyrrhenian. Length about 40 km, width 3.5 22 km. The smallest depth is 115 m. It is known for the strong whirlpools of Scylla and Charybdis. The ports of Messina and Reggio di Calabria ... ... Great Soviet Encyclopedia

Strait of Messina- (Messina, Strait of) Messina Strait of, separating the island of Sicily from the toe of Italy. Connects the Tyrrhenian Sea with the Ionian. The length of the strait is 32 km, it is notable for its strong currents. It is considered the habitat of the mythical sea monster Scylla and ... ... Countries of the world. Dictionary

Photos are clickable :)

1. Filmed a panorama from the Sacrario di Cristo Re (1937) - conceived by designer engineer Francesco Barbaro as a monumental tomb. The temple is on the rise
about 60 meters above sea level, at the place where he stood old castle Rocca Guelfonia Matagriffone and in 1191, was home to Richard the Lionheart,
who came with his people to the Holy Land during the Third Crusade. You can read about "Richard the Undaunted" The Story of the Life of the King-Knight
Next to the temple is not destroyed, after the earthquake in 1908, the octagonal tower ancient castle, in 1908 the earthquake was one of the strongest in terms of strength and destructiveness.
Fortunately, there were ships of the Russian fleet, whose sailors saved thousands Italian lives.

In Russia, the feat of our compatriots went unnoticed, and the Italians, in gratitude, erected a monument to our sailors ..

On top of the tower, in 1935, a 130-pound bell was made from bronze cannons taken from their enemies during the First World War.

2. Scan ancient map. Here in a larger format - full size, you can find the castle of Rocca Guelfonia Matagriffone

3. Panoramic view of Messina and the Strait of Messina.

Strait of Messina (ital. Stretto di Messina, sit. strittu di Missina) - the strait between east coast Sicily and south coast Calabria.
The width at the narrowest point of the strait is 3.1 km, near the city of Messina - about 5.1 km.
The natural forms of the coast and rocks, as well as whirlpools in this place, are associated with the legend of Scylla and Charybdis.

"Among the ancient legends about terrible monsters lying in wait for sailors, the story of Scylla and Charybdis is one of the most famous. Scylla lay in wait for sailors in a narrow bay, on a steep rock,
where on the opposite side lived another monster - Charybdis. On mosaics and bas-reliefs, Scylla was depicted as an angry woman, girded with dog heads, with serpentine-fish tails covered with scales.

Where did such a Scylla come from, myths say differently. According to one version, Scylla is “once a beautiful maiden”, she rejected all suitors and the sea god Glaucus, who was in love with her, who asked for help from the sorceress Kirka.
But Kirk, who was in love with Glaucus, turned Scipla into a monster out of revenge. The famous ancient Greek poet Homer in the Odyssey, through the mouth of the conjuring Circe, says:
“The terrible Scylla lives there from time immemorial. Incessantly barking, with a piercing squeal, like a young puppy's squeal, the whole neighborhood is announced by the monster. It is scary to approach it not only to people, but also to the immortals themselves.
Twelve moves in front of her paws. On the shoulders of the shaggy Six long curving necks rise, and on each Neck a head sticks out, and on the jaws in three rows of teeth, Frequent, sharp, full of black death, sparkle.

Such a “reified” description of Scylla, in which six heads, three rows of sharp teeth in each mouth and twelve legs are attributed to her, more than once attracted the attention of seekers of the elusive sea serpent.
(in which the “long-awaited” plesiosaur was seen), a multi-armed insatiable kraken (giant squid) and other surface and underwater monsters.
The description of Scylla (the name of Sicily, perhaps, is directly related here) outwardly resembles the appearance of another creature - the Hydra, the daughter of Echidna and Typhon who did not stand out in appearance, with whom the restless Hercules (Hercules) fought.
The narrators Sophocles and Euripides endowed the Hydra with the body of a snake and ten heads on long necks. Regularly crawling out of the swamp near the city of Lerna, near Mycenae, she attacked cattle.

It is curious that in some comments on the Odyssey, Hercules was credited with the victory over Scylla. Was this feat of Hercules a reality?
It is quite possible, since in many ancient images the Hydra is similar in detail to a large octopus or squid and biologically does not represent anything supernatural.

The wise and perspicacious sorceress Circe warned the eternal vagabond - Odysseus (quoted from "Wanderings and Adventures", 1992, 5-6): With her paws, rummaging around on a rock doused with the sea, she catches dolphins, seals and mighty underwater wonders, without the number of inhabitants of the cold swell of Amphitrite.
Not a single navigator could pass by her unscathed with a light ship: all her toothy mouths gaping, she steals six people from the ship at once.

And yet, giving Scylla the appearance of some kind of animal, monster, monster is most likely just a tribute to the legend.
The passage between Scylla and Haribiaoi was extremely dangerous for sea travelers and in itself, purely geographically,
The fearless Odysseus was able, however, to overcome it, losing, as was warned, six of his companions.

In the legend of Scylla and Charybdis, we are talking about a very specific geographical location, is the Strait of Messina between the Apennine Peninsula and the island of Sicily (38 degrees north latitude, 16 degrees east longitude), the very section-gap where the “boot” of Italy “kicks” the ball to Sicily.

Cause dangerous area lies, however, not in the mysterious long-suffering kraken, pulling the sailors off the deck, but in the fact that this is truly a “bottleneck”,
similar to the transition of a wide bottle into a narrow neck, which gave rise to anomalies: a sharp transition from externally calm sea into a turbulent, fast-moving current.
The currents in the Strait of Messina were caused by the tidal movements of the sea, it was they who gave rise to Scylla and Charybdis, who were not biological monsters at all, but whirlpools!
“The currents caused by the ebb and flow include currents in the Strait of Messina, giving rise to the whirlpool of Scylla and Charybdis, known in antiquity,” Herman Klein Herman noted in the book “Miracles the globe” (St. Petersburg: 1900).
- General course in the strait at high tide it goes north, and at low tide south, but these currents change depending on the seasons and the prevailing winds.
In addition, near the main current there are reverse currents along the coast of Calabria and Sicily, and due to the collision of such currents, whirlpools are formed,
of which the most remarkable are in front of Scylla and Torre li Faro.
These are the “growling monsters” of the ancients, at the sight of which it seems clear to a modern observer how half of Octavian’s fleet could once die in these insignificant whirlpools (emperor Augustus, 63 BC 14 AD - A.A.).

The whirlpool of Scylla, according to F. Keller, indeed, with strong excitement, makes a sound that has a distant resemblance to a dog barking, which is probably where the ancient fable came from. Whirlpool of Charybdis - in another place, not far from the harbor of Messina, nine nautical miles from Scylla. Therefore, the popular expression “between Scylla and Charybdis” should be taken literally, as a route from one dangerous point to another.

There is another well-known legend about the whirlpool of Scylla, this is the legend of the sea postman, a former fisherman and oyster catcher Cola Pesci from Catania (Cola - Nikolai, Pesci - fish).
King Frederick II of Hohenstaufen, having learned about him, decided to look at a skilled diver and offered to get a precious golden goblet thrown there from the raging abyss.
The swimmer did it. Then the king promised to give the goblet to the diver if he did it a second time. The diver, despite being tired, agreed.
He dived again, but never came up again, with or without a goblet.
Subsequently, this legendary opportunity was used by the German poet Johan Schiller, who created the ballad “The Cup”, which is also known to us from the translation of V. A. Zhukovsky.

When measuring " scary place” it turned out that it was “narrow” and vertical, that is, by no means deep, compared to other places in the Mediterranean. The famous Italian abbot and naturalist Lazzaro Spallanzani (1729-1799) found,
that it is “only” 500 feet. (1 foot = 30 cm), i.e. about 150 meters. It really isn't deep at all.
If, at such a depth, the well-known ocean superliner Titanic, 260 meters long, was stuck into the bottom and stood upright, it would stick up almost half a hull.

A.Arefiev

Messina was founded by Greek colonists on the site of a settlement of the Siculi tribe around 730 BC. e. and was originally called Zancla (ancient Greek Ζάγκλη from ancient Greek ζάγκλον - sickle) because of the shape of the natural harbor near it.
Messina (Sicily) tied ferry crossing with a peninsula with the cities of Villa San Giovanni and Reggio di Calabria in Calabria.
In 1957, a 220 kV transmission line was built across the Strait of Messina.
Its pylons are considered the highest in the world. This transmission line has been replaced with an underwater cable, but the pylons have been preserved and are a local landmark.

4. satellite image Strait of Messina (NASA) (visible characteristic sickle)

5. Another panorama facing more of the strait, you can see the pylons.

6. The patron saint of the city is Madonna della Lettera. The letter in her hand ends with "Vos et Ipsam civitatem benedicimus" or "Bless you and your city". The text to date is written in large letters at the base of the Madonna stele.
Since then, the feast of the city of Messina is June 3rd. The procession of the Madonna passes through the streets of the city, hundreds of believers in white clothes are carried away, with the participation of several hundred thousand believers and curious people from all over Europe.

7. Madonna della Lettera su stele votiva posta all "ingresso del porto di Messina

8. View from the deck of the ferry, when it turns...

P.S.: I’ll tell you more about Messina and Calabria and show you later :)

Strait of Messina, between the Apennine Peninsula. and about. Sicily in the Mediterranean. Connects the Tyrrhenian and Ionian seas. Length 33 km, width 3–22 km, navigable depth 72–1220 m, prevailing 500–600 m. Sicily - Messina, on the Calabria Peninsula - Reggio di Calabria. Constant currents are weak and two-layer in depth: to the top. layer on S., in the bottom. - in the south. Tides up to 0.5–0.6 m. Near the coast of the strait - strong tidal currents of more than 9 km / h. In combination with coastal rocks and shoals, they create very dangerous water cycles for navigation. This is connected in ancient Greek mythology with the legend of two monsters - Scylla and Charybdis - who lived in the narrowest part of the strait on opposite shores, they destroyed ships and devoured sailors.

Watch value Strait of Messina in other dictionaries

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Bab el Mandeb Strait- between the Arabian Peninsula and Africa. It connects the Red Line with the Arabian Line. Length 109 km. The smallest width is 26 km, depth is 31 m (on the fairway).

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Bering Strait- between the continents of Eurasia and North. America. Connects Sev.Arctic approx. with Quiet ok. Length 96 km, minimum width 86 km, minimum depth 36 m. Named after V. Bering. In the middle........
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Vilkitsky Strait- between the Taimyr Peninsula and about. Bolshevik (Sev.Zemlya), connects the Kara and Laptev Seas. Length 104 km, minimum width 55 km, minimum depth 32 m. Named after B. A. Vilkitsky.
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Genic Strait- connects the Azov metro with the hall. Sivash. Length approx. 4 km, width 80-150 m, depth up to 4.6 m. Genichesk port.
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Strait of Gibraltar- (Estrecho de Gibraltar) - between the southern tip of the Iberian Peninsula and the northwestern part of Africa; connects Atlantic approx. and the Mediterranean m. Length 59 km, width 14-44 km, the smallest ........
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Hudson Strait- (Hudson Strait) - between the Labrador Peninsula and about. Baffin's Land (North America). Connects Hudson Hall. with the Atlantic Length 806 km, width 115-407 km, depth in the fairway 141-988 m. Ok.........
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Denmark Strait- in the north of the Atlantic Ocean, between the islands of Greenland and Iceland. Length 530 km, minimum width approx. 287 km; the smallest depth in the fairway is 120 m.
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Davis Strait- (Davis Strait) - between the islands of Greenland and Baffin Island (Canada); connects m. Baffina Sev. Arctic ca. with Atlantic approx. Length 1170 km, minimum width 360 m, minimum ........
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Drake Strait- between arch. Tierra del Fuego and Yuzh. Shetland Islands, connects the Atlantic and Pacific approx. Length 460 km. The widest (up to 1120 km) strait on Earth; depth up to 5249 m. Storms; icebergs.
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Sunda Strait- between the islands of Sumatra and Java in Indonesia. Connects the Javanese with the Indian approx. The length is 130 km, the smallest width is 26 km, the smallest depth in the fairway is 28 m. In the Sunda Strait. the volcano Krakatoa is located.
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Kerch Strait- between Kerch and Taman peninsulas. connects black and Sea of ​​Azov. Length approx. 41 km, width from 4 to 45 km, depth 5-15 m. major port- Kerch connected by railway ........
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Strait of Constantinople- see Bosphorus.
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Korea Strait- between the Korean Peninsula and the islands of Iki, Kyushu, the southwestern tip of about. Honshu. Connects the Sea of ​​Japan and the East China Sea. Length 324 km, minimum width 180 km, minimum ........
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Red Army Strait- between the islands of Komsomolets and the October Revolution (Severnaya Zemlya), connects the Kara and Laptev seas. The length is 144 km, the smallest width is 3 km. Depth in the east approx. 50 m, on ........
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Cook Strait- between the North and South Islands of New Zealand, connects the Tasmanovo m. with the Pacific ok. Length 107 km, width 22-91 km, minimum depth 97 m. On the coast of the North Island - Wellington.
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La Perouse Strait- between the Sakhalin Islands ( Russian Federation) and Hokkaido (Japan). Connects Japanese and Sea of ​​Okhotsk. Length 94 km, minimum width 43 km, depth 27-118 m.
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Lapteva Dmitry Proliv- between B. Lyakhovsky Island and the northern coast of the Asian mainland. It connects the Laptev Cape with the East Siberian Cape. The length is 115 km, the width is 50-61 km, the depth is 11-16 m. Most year covered with ice. Name ........
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Longa Strait- between about. Wrangel and the coast of Asia. Connects the East Siberian and Chukchi Seas. Length 128 km, minimum width 146 km. Depth 36-50 m. Named after the American whaler, captain of the ship T. Long.
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