THE STRAIT OF MESSINA,Sicily,Antique Map

HISTORICAL MAP CHART

The Strait of Messina is the narrow section of water between the eastern tip of Sicily and the southern tip of Italy. A natural whirlpool forms there, which has been linked to the legend of Scylla and Charybdis. Messina is the third largest city on the island of Sicily, Italy and the capital of the province of Messina. It is located at 38°11?24? N 15°33?0? E, near the North-East corner of Sicily, at the Strait of Messina. Founded by Greek colonists in the 8th century BCE, Messina was originally called Zancle (scythe) because of the shape of its natural harbour. (The stairs leading to the harbour are to this day called 'Scaletta Zanclea'.) In the early 5th century, Anaxilas of Rhegium renamed it Messene in honor of the Greek city Messene. The city was sacked in 396 BCE by the Carthaginians, then reconquered by Dionysius I of Syracuse. At the end of the first Punic War it was a free city allied with Rome. In Roman times Messina, then known as Messana, had an important pharos (lighthouse). Messana was the base of Sextus Pompeius, during his war against Octavian. After the fall of the Roman Empire, the city was successively conquered by the Goths, then by the Byzantine Empire in 535, by the Arabs in 842, and in 1061 by the Norman brothers Robert Guiscard and Roger Guiscard (later count Roger I of Sicily). Messina was most likely the harbor at which the Black Death entered Europe in the Middle Ages.

1890s Wood Engraving, Antique Map

Approximate Overall Size: 7 X 10 1/2 inches

CONDITION: Book Plate INTEXT MAP - Excellent Condition. Beautiful with excellent detail. There is Text on Front and Back Side.