{ Chapter Two }

A monumental sequence of palazzi facing the port of Messina. Designed by Simone Gulli and completed under Filiberto of Savoy, viceroy of Sicily (1622-24) who intended it as a “palisade of the port”, with five city gates. It was damaged by the earthquake of 1783 and rebuilt in neoclassical style by Giacomo Minutoli in 1803, including thirty-seven gates, or passageways, between the historic city and the port. It was definitively destroyed during the earthquake of 1908. AC, 199.

the Palazzata

Palazzata after the earthquake of 1909

Plan designed in 1909 by Luigi Borzì for the reconstruction of the Palazzata after the earthquake of 1909. It was never realized.

The ancient palazzo, prior to the Norman domination, was a mighty fortress with towers, located at the southeastern end of the harbor basin. From 1543 to 1589 it was transformed by Andrea Camelech into the residence of the Spanish viceroys. Severely damaged by the earthquake of 1783 it was not rebuilt and when the port of Messina became a Bourbon free port, the building was adapted to serve as a customs house. It was restored after the earthquake of 1908. AC, 199.

The former Palazzo Reale

The tradition of the festival of Sant’Efisio originated in the mid seventeenth century when a terrible plague swept across Sardinia decimating the population in four years. Ten thousand people died in Cagliari alone and the town councilors prayed to Sant’Efisio to save the city. When the epidemic finally passed in May 1657 the people of Cagliari kept the promise they had made to the saint and carried his sacred image in procession from Cagliari to Nora, where he had been executed.

http://www.activsardegna.com/folklore-sardinia/festival-of-sant-efisio.

Sant’Efisio

Madonna di Loreto

The Pilgrim’s Madonna, but not the famous painting by Caravaggio.