Every design for Messina

Have you ever crossed the Strait of Messina by ferry and watched the city slide into view? For many Sicilians that crossing is the start or the end of every journey, and Messina's port is still the first in Italy for passengers in transit.

The city lies near the north-eastern tip of Sicily, on the western shore of the strait, squeezed between the sea and the Peloritani mountains, with Villa San Giovanni and Reggio Calabria across the water. Its harbour is closed by a curved spit of land shaped like a sickle, which is why the Sicels named the place Zancle, their word for one. Destroyed almost entirely by the earthquake of 1908, Messina was rebuilt largely in the Liberty style, on wide, straight streets running north to south. The Real Cittadella guards the harbour, and forts such as the Forte Gonzaga keep watch from the hills.

If Messina is where you learned to read the currents of the strait, wear it for the mornings by the water, for the Fontana di Orione in the centre, and for the Statua della Madonna della Lettera standing over the port.