Description
The Sanctuary of the Madonna di Montalto is the church on Caperrina hill, above the center of Messina, with its facade facing the sea between two pointed bell towers. People come up here for the legend of its founding and for the view over the Strait.
From the panoramic terrace in front of the church your gaze sweeps over the city, the port and the Strait. The view was praised by Pope John Paul II during his visit to Messina in 1988.
To commemorate it, on the terrace there is a life-size statue of the pope, shown admiring the city from above: an unusual companion at the lookout.
The facade, with the two spired bell towers flanking it, dates from 1930. After the 1908 earthquake, which had reduced the sanctuary to a heap of rubble, this was the first place of worship rebuilt in the city.
Its founding is tied to the War of the Sicilian Vespers. In 1282 Messina, having rebelled against the Angevins, was under siege, and the Caperrina was the scene of fierce fighting. According to legend, one night a White Lady appeared on the hill, deflecting the enemy arrows and covering the walls with her veil.
The Lady was the Madonna, venerated from then on also as the Madonna delle Vittorie. Soon after, she appeared in a dream to a young friar, Nicola, and asked him for a sanctuary right there. A white dove, she told him, would trace its outline in flight.
The next morning, before the Senate, the archbishop and many of the faithful, the dove appeared and drew the outline of the church. Construction began in 1286, and the first stone was laid by Queen Constance, widow of Peter of Aragon.
From the Caperrina, again according to tradition, two women, Dina and Clarenza, drove back a night attack on the walls. The two heroines and the flight of the dove reappear in the astronomical clock in the Cathedral bell tower, where every day the church of Montalto rises from the hill.
The sanctuary was consecrated in 1389, and King Frederick III, Constance's son, endowed it with revenues and privileges. Next to it grew a convent of Cistercian nuns, which enjoyed centuries of prosperity until its suppression in 1866.
From the panoramic terrace in front of the church your gaze sweeps over the city, the port and the Strait. The view was praised by Pope John Paul II during his visit to Messina in 1988.
To commemorate it, on the terrace there is a life-size statue of the pope, shown admiring the city from above: an unusual companion at the lookout.
The facade, with the two spired bell towers flanking it, dates from 1930. After the 1908 earthquake, which had reduced the sanctuary to a heap of rubble, this was the first place of worship rebuilt in the city.
Its founding is tied to the War of the Sicilian Vespers. In 1282 Messina, having rebelled against the Angevins, was under siege, and the Caperrina was the scene of fierce fighting. According to legend, one night a White Lady appeared on the hill, deflecting the enemy arrows and covering the walls with her veil.
The Lady was the Madonna, venerated from then on also as the Madonna delle Vittorie. Soon after, she appeared in a dream to a young friar, Nicola, and asked him for a sanctuary right there. A white dove, she told him, would trace its outline in flight.
The next morning, before the Senate, the archbishop and many of the faithful, the dove appeared and drew the outline of the church. Construction began in 1286, and the first stone was laid by Queen Constance, widow of Peter of Aragon.
From the Caperrina, again according to tradition, two women, Dina and Clarenza, drove back a night attack on the walls. The two heroines and the flight of the dove reappear in the astronomical clock in the Cathedral bell tower, where every day the church of Montalto rises from the hill.
The sanctuary was consecrated in 1389, and King Frederick III, Constance's son, endowed it with revenues and privileges. Next to it grew a convent of Cistercian nuns, which enjoyed centuries of prosperity until its suppression in 1866.