MESSINA. 



59 



Messina, which are sculptured appropriate designs and inscrip- 

 *""V"^ tions: and one end terminates with the royal palace. 

 A considerable portion of the whole, however, as well 

 as the statues in front of these edifices, was mined 

 in the year 1783, and is scarcely yet completely re- 

 stored. 



Messina contains numerous public edifices, among 

 which are about fifty churches, many of fine architec- 

 ture, and internally decorated with paintings, for the 

 moat part from the pencil of native masters. The 

 cathedral, a spacious building of Gothic architecture, 

 and highly embellished within, stands in an irregular 

 square, where there is a bronze equestrian statue of 

 Charles III. of Spain in the centre. Antique granite 

 columns, brought from a temple of Neptune once 

 standing on the Straits, support the vaulted roof and 

 the timber work of the nave. The great altar consists 

 of mosaic, richly executed in jasper, agate, lapis lazuli, 

 rernar kablemarblea and pastes of various colours, whose 

 combination, together with gilded bronze, produces an 

 imposing effect. There is a marble pulpit here, the 

 work of GagRtni, a Sicilian sculptor of the sixteenth 

 century, which ia much admired. This cathedral was 

 erected by Roger, Count of Sicily, in the end of the 

 eleventh or beginning of the twelfth century ; 

 dedicated to the Virgin Mary, en original letter from 

 whom, a'lilrt i *e< 1 from .Vrmalt m to tiuir ]>r '^rtr.t'': -, 



the Meaeinese boast of yet possessing. Mrsaina ia an 

 archiepiacopal see. Directly opposite to the cathedral 

 there is a fountain, ornamented with a number of floe 

 marble statues of nymphs and deities, alike elegant in 

 design and execution. It is to be remarked, that some 

 parts of the city, such as the S<pi*rt oftkf Four Feans- 

 taitt, are named from the structures of this kind em- 

 bellishing them* 



e there are not fewer than thirty convent* for 

 both sexes, which for the mo*t part are very large, and 

 nighty rmimmlni with all the symbol* of the Catho- 



]:, faith. 



The public hospital ia a fine building, capable of re- 

 ceiving several hundred patients. It i* supported by 

 considerable revenues, arising from lands and houses, 

 and ia managed by a committee of noblemen. But, 

 owing to prevalent abusea, there are few patients ad- 

 mitted, and even these are not suitably treated, both 

 from the want of nacaeaary attendance, and from too 



for 



These last are public 

 rit, where money at small 

 ("advanced on good* to the necessitous, 

 the profit* applied to rapport seminaries for the 

 etlocation of youth. Such metitvtione subsist in va- 

 rious town* of Sicily, where they are productive of 

 the most beneficial effect*, and obviate the inconve- 

 nience which is felt in other countries from the loan of 

 money by individuals on pledge*. The public prison, 

 which by a singular deviation from a real sense of its 

 purpose, is exhibited in a very fine structure, in 

 one of U il streets; it is spacious within, 



and superior to that of the capital in certain re- 

 spects, but deficient hi most of the essential requi- 

 sites of such a place ; cleanliness, for example, and in 

 the sexes being separated, which are precautions alike 

 important to health and moral*. Messina also contains 

 two houses of cmrectimi for women. The royal pa- 

 lace and lenate-houac are fine buildings. 



ngid ecoiKHuf . The other charitable tm 

 ieting of an asylum* for the poor, 

 the reception of foundlings, andjwo monlet di pirta, 



There are four public libraries, but only two of them Mt>in. 

 are of importance. The British residents in Messina, """""V"* 

 however, have established reading rooms. A news- 

 paper, said to be the only one in the island, is published 

 here, in Italian, called the British Gazelle. 



The state of the drama is considered very low in 

 Messina, and the theatre in every respect unworthy 

 of so large a population. Friday is selected for the 

 performance of tragedy, on which evening the theatre 

 was shut previous to the dissemination of the writings 

 of Alfieri. From the scarcity of public amusements, 

 gaming tables are frequently resorted to, especially by 

 the more fashionable Sicilians. 



The city is defended by two forts, Gonzago and Ma- 

 tagrifone ; and the harbour is protected by a pentago- 

 nal fortification, called the citadel, which was en 

 in the year 1<>71>. This is the strongest place in the 

 island, and it has casemates for 5OOO men. Near to it 

 ia a lazaretto, which, notwithstanding the prevalence of 

 the plague in many part* of the Mediterranean, is the 

 only one in Sicily ; and so little regard is paid to safety, 

 that the restrictions both on landing goods and the 

 crews of ship* under quarantine are very easily evaded. 



The harbour of Messina ia the best port of Sicily, 

 containing not leu than from 80 to 40 fathoms water, 

 close to the quay, and its situation i* esteemed supe- 

 rior to any other in the Mediterranean. Hence thii 

 city ha* been always a place of considerable trade. 

 A large proportion of the produce of the island, affording 

 no lea* than ninety-aix article* of export, is to be fouml 

 in the city. The produce of the environs is princi- 

 pally fruits and wines, and the chief manufacture con- 

 sists of tilks. What is called the Faro red wine, u in 

 great repute with the British on account of its strength 

 and resemblance to port, which it also equals in quality 

 when kept three or four yean. In addition to the 

 quantity made for home consumption, about 10,000 

 pipe* are exported yearly. The other exports are dried 

 fig*, citrons, orange*, lemon*, lemon juice, manna, es- 

 sence of bergamot, red tartar, goat skins, hides, mot- 

 tled soap, for the American market, linen and rags, 

 partly to England, partly to the Italian ports. Some 

 time ago it wa computed that there were exported 

 SOOO chest* of oranges, and 6000 chests of lemons, 

 each containing 408 ; likewise 880 barrel* of lemon 

 juice. During several centuries stlk-worms have been 

 successfully reared in the vicinity of Messina, and 

 their produce ia to be ranked among the first source* 

 of it* opulence. There are several extensive manufac- 

 tories of that article here, and many years since 1 200 

 looms were employed in the city. The silks, however, 

 are not highly esteemed, but by the recent introduc- 

 tion of the machinery constructed in Britain, their fa- 

 bric throughout Sicily is in a state of progressive im- 

 provement. An ample assortment of the produce of 

 the Levant and the Morea i* brought hither by the 

 Greek*, consisting of carpets, silk*, cotton, timber, 

 fruit*, gums, drugs, and other merchandize. During 

 later yean a number of British merchants have settled 

 here, by whom an active commerce is prosecuted, yet 

 it is supposed with lee* real advantage than their origi- 

 nal prospect* contemplated. Messina is a free port, 

 btit not in the full acceptation of that term : and the 

 inhabitants, in consequence of the misfortunes of the 

 have had an immunity from taxes for 25 yean. 



Part of the inhabitants find occupation in the coral 

 fishery ; and in that of the sword-fish and shark dur- 

 ing certain icasona of the year. About eighteen or 



