Description
Messina Centrale station is Sicily's railway gateway: a long Rationalist building from 1939 on Piazza della Repubblica, next to the port. From here the trains roll onto the ferries and cross the Strait to Villa San Giovanni, in Calabria.
It was designed by Angiolo Mazzoni, with spacious halls and clean lines clad in travertine; the most curious piece is the water column, a cylinder wrapped in an outdoor spiral staircase.
In the gallery above the tracks, a mosaic by Cascella tells the story of Sicily, from the temples of Agrigento to Archimedes, from the Normans to the Vespers.
The first station opened in 1866, with the line to Taormina, and was swept away by the 1908 earthquake. The new one had to wait until 1939, when Mussolini, on a visit, swung the first pickax at the ruins of the old one.
It was designed by Angiolo Mazzoni, with spacious halls and clean lines clad in travertine; the most curious piece is the water column, a cylinder wrapped in an outdoor spiral staircase.
In the gallery above the tracks, a mosaic by Cascella tells the story of Sicily, from the temples of Agrigento to Archimedes, from the Normans to the Vespers.
The first station opened in 1866, with the line to Taormina, and was swept away by the 1908 earthquake. The new one had to wait until 1939, when Mussolini, on a visit, swung the first pickax at the ruins of the old one.