Messina - Cathedral

The cathedral in Messina, a Norman foundation dating from the time of Roger II, was begun in 1160 and consecrated in 1197. During the reconstruction after the earthquake of 1908, a great effort was made from 1919 to 1929 to recapture the original form of the building. This involved refurbishing those parts which were preserved, such as the sculptured portals dating from the 15th and 16th centuries; other parts had to be recreated as close as possible to the original, such as the campanile. This 60m/197ft high bell-tower, reconstructed using old designs, contains one of the greatest of all astronomical clocks, a work by the Strasbourg firm of Ungerer (1933); every day at midday the figures are set in motion and show scenes from the history