In Messina

Or, I walk where Richard walked.

Arrived in Messina this morning. With about the same level of pomp and circumstance as Richard. I’m kidding. Here's Roger de Templo describing Richard's entrance:

But when the report was spread of the arrival of the noble-minded king of England, the people rushed out eagerly to behold him, crowding along the shore and seating themselves wherever they were likely to catch a glimpse of him. And lo! they beheld the sea in the distance covered with innumerable galleys; and the sound of trumpets and clarions, loud and shrill, strike upon the ear! Then, as they approached nearer, they saw the galleys as they were impelled onward, laden and adorned with arms of all kinds; their pennons and standards floating in countless numbers in the breeze in good order and on the tops of their spears; the prow of the galleys distinguished from each other by the variety of the paintings, with shields glittering in the sun, and you might behold the sea boiling from the number of oarsmen who plied it, and the ears of the spectators rang with the peals of the instruments commonly called trumpets, and their delight was aroused by the approach of the varied crowd, when lo! the magnificent king, accompanied by the crowd of obedient galleys, standing on a prow more elevated and ornamental than the others, as if to see what he had not seen before, or to be seen by the crowds that densely thronged the shore, lands in a splendid dress, where the sailors whom he had sent before him, and “others of his equipage, receive him with congratulations, and bring forward the chargers and horses which had been committed to their care for transportation, that he and his suite might mount.

The natives crowd round him on all sides, mixed with his own men, and followed him to his hostel. The common people conversed with each other in admiration of his great glory; and agreed that he was worthy of empire, and deserved to be set over nations and kingdoms...

— Itinerarium Peregrinorum of Richard de Templo

We entered the harbor around 7 or so, a clear blue sky starting orange at the horizon, gradually changing to clear blue overhead, a beautiful gradient. On deck with Michelle and my friend Thomas taking pictures, we are just shy of the straights of Messina, and Scylla and Charybdis, the mythical monsters encountered by Odysseus. 1.9 miles across at its narrowest, we will go through it this evening around 6. We are greeted by the Madonna of the Letter in the harbor of Messina

There are no cheering crowds to greet us. Just tour buses. One of them is for us, to take us to Taormina. More on that shortly.

Later, as Richard did, we walk the city - shops, food, churches. There's a gorgeous Norman church right at the waterline, Cathedral of Saint Mary of the Assumption (or, Chiesa Santissima Annuziata dei Catalani). Built in 1100 on the ruins of a temple to Poseidon, about 90 years before Richard, so he would surely have seen it, and perhaps gone in to pray.

We wander the central plaza, street vendors hawking their wares, surely as they did in Richard's day. Just without the boom boxes. We enter the Cathedral of Saint Mary of the Assumption, a gorgeous but more modern edifice. The original was built in 1198, almost a decade after Richard came, but it was mostly destroyed in the earthquake of 1902, and even more damaged by bombs during WWII; the current structure is mostly a reconstruction, a very beautiful one.

Around the back side is the Church of St. James.

On the skyline, we see the massive edifice of the Tempio di Cristo Rei. This is also a more modern building. In Richard's time this hill was mostly empty. After a significant number of quarrels, Richard attacked Messina and took control of the town. Following the sack of Messina, Richard built Mategriffon, 'Kill-Greeks', a fortress he used as his headquarters during his time in Messina, on this location.

When Richard decided to take control of Messina, he did so by taking a small expeditionary force (10 to 20 men) around the south of the city, up the hill to near where he would build Mategriffon, and breaking through a sparsely guarded gate into the city. Somewhat similarly, we climb the hill to the location; it takes us about 20 minutes, including a few stops for confused map checks. The walking paths are confused there as the area is steep and not all roads lead to Rome here, so to speak. But we make it. The views are spectacular, we are easily seeing the entire city, and across the straights into mainland Italy. It is no surprise that Richard chose this as his headquarters.

Richard would remain here until the 10th of April, 1191, when he departed for the Holy Land, taking with him his sister Joanna, the former Queen of Sicily (see episode 5 of this substack for more about this), and his fiancé Berengaria. We however, leave this evening.

Leaving the time of Richard, in the morning we took a tour bus to Taormina, which I call the City in the Sky. Our tour bus parks in the garage and we take an elevator 7 STORIES up to the main city. It is a beautiful village. Medieval alleyways, shops, mosaics in dark corners, orange trees in back alleys, high battlements, more restaurants than you can count, a long, narrow main street, gypies playing jaw harps, leading up to a Greek/Roman theater in astounding shape, with grand vistas. All with Mount Etna smoking in the background. It's no wonder the 2017 G7 summit was held here.

And so far as I know, I've beaten Richard, because there's no record he made it here!