We leave Lipari for Messina in the morning of 27 May. On the way we greet Sea Cloud II moored in the Bay. She has been following us since we crossed the Bonifacio straight en route to La Maddalena.
Sea Cloud II anchored in the bay of Lipari
But the adventure of the day will be the crossing of the Straits of Messina, falling from Scylla into Charybdis, under the strict guidance of Homer!
The bay of Lipari
As we leave the Gulf of Lipari and sail along the northern coast of Sicily, we come across Mount Etna in the background.
The Etna in the background
The picture below shows the entrance to Messina from the north-west. You can see the two tall poles on either side of the strait, which had telephone lines attached to them until they got broken during the earthquake of 1908.
The small town to the left of the picture is the famous (infamous?) Scylla. Let's get through...
Entrance of the Messina strait
Soon after entering, we leave Scylla rocks devouring who ever in reach, to meet Charybdis and her whirlpools!
Whirlpool at the entrance of the Messina Strait
So what is the story of Scylla and Charibdis?
Once upon a time, as Homer tells us, Ulysses was on an odyssey to return from the Trojan War to Ithaca, where his wife Penelope was waiting for him. Along the way they have many terrible adventures, including crossing the Strait of Messina, which is guarded by Scylla to the east and Charybdis to the west. Scylla, with its 12 feet and 6 long-necked heads, devours all who venture within its reach. Charybdis creates a whirlpool while drinking water from the strait, which is fatal to ships that venture there.
This is the origin of the expression "fall from Scylla into Charybdis", meaning trying to deal with two equally dangerous alternatives.
Fortunately, our crew did not open the bag of dangerous winds given by Aeolus and we experienced a very calm crossing between the two!
In fact, the Strait of Messina was known as a very dangerous crossing until the series of earthquakes in 1783 that killed between 32000 and 50000 people. Most of the deaths occurred in the first 3 earthquakes (5, 6 and 7 February), each of which was followed by a large tsunami. In particular, the earthquake on 6 February caused a large landslide in the sea near Scylla, followed by a tsunami that killed thousands of people who had sought refuge on the beaches to avoid being hit by the replicas in the city.
On a more positive note, the series of earthquakes and landslides at Scylla have profoundly altered the seabed in the area, greatly reducing the dangers of navigating the Messina Strait.
Heading South, having past the neck of the Messina strait
Heading towards Messina harbour
We arrived at Messina Marina just before Sea Cloud II entered the main port of Messina. Our journey with Sea Cloud II continues, showing us that our stopovers are probably the good ones!
Messina Cathedral
The cathedral of Messina was completely destroyed in the 1908 earthquake. As in 1783, the earthquake was followed by a tsunami that caused many secondary deaths. In all, 80,000 people died in 1908, more than half of the city's population at the time. In 1943, Messina was the target of Allied bombing raids, with incendiary bombs destroying the roof of the cathedral and everything inside. What a martyred city!
Caravaggio "Adoration of shepherds" (1609) in the Messina museum
Below, Belisama feels lonely in the marina, under the watchful protection of the Madonna della Lettera On the base of the statue is written "Vos et ipsam civitatem benedicimus", which means "We bless you and your city". The story goes that Saint Paul visited Messina in 43 A.D. and converted the inhabitants, some of whom accompanied him back to Palestine, where they met the Virgin Mary, who wrote them a letter of blessing that ended with these words.
Belisama feeling lonely in the Messina marina!
No comments:
Post a Comment