Description
The Statue of Grateful Messina is a white marble female figure personifying the city, in the small Piazzetta Giacomo Minutoli, facing the port with the bulk of the City Hall behind it. It is one of the first monuments you meet when you step off a cruise ship.
The detail to look for is in her hands: the statue holds the emblems of trade and, in her right hand, a paper scroll, the decree that gave Messina back its free port. The free port was the trading privilege the Bourbons had taken away from the city, and here the city shows its gratitude for its return.
It was carved in the mid-19th century by Giuseppe Prinzi from Messina. Until 1908 it stood inside the old city hall, and since 1973 it has stood in this little square by the sea.
The detail to look for is in her hands: the statue holds the emblems of trade and, in her right hand, a paper scroll, the decree that gave Messina back its free port. The free port was the trading privilege the Bourbons had taken away from the city, and here the city shows its gratitude for its return.
It was carved in the mid-19th century by Giuseppe Prinzi from Messina. Until 1908 it stood inside the old city hall, and since 1973 it has stood in this little square by the sea.