On 22 September 1197, Archbishop Berardo consecrated the Cathedral of Santa Maria Assunta in the presence of Holy Roman Emperor Henry VI and Queen Constance of Sicily. The site's history extends back to 530 AD, when the Byzantine general Belisarius built a Christian temple using columns from an ancient Temple of Neptune, a construction phase confirmed by gold coins discovered beneath the tower base. Designated a minor basilica by Pope Pius XII in 1947, the cathedral survived centuries of destruction—including conversion during the Islamic emirate, the devastating earthquakes of 1783 and 1908, and incendiary bombing in 1943 that left only the perimeter walls, apse, and Gothic portal standing.
What to see
The exterior features a facade clad in bicrome marble bands framing its original Gothic portal. Inside, the nave holds twenty-six granite columns and figures from the Apostolate series designed by Giovanni Angelo Montorsoli, a student and collaborator of Michelangelo. The interior is also home to polychrome mosaics and Italy's second-largest pipe organ. Rising over 65 metres above Piazza Duomo, the bell tower was rebuilt after the 1908 earthquake with pointed mullioned windows and a spire roof. In 1933, Archbishop Angelo Paino commissioned the Strasbourg firm Ungerer to build its animated mechanical and astronomical clock, recognized as the largest and most complex in the world. The tower houses Sicily's largest concert of bells, cast by the Colbachini foundry of Padua in 1929, alongside two historic bells cast by Micheal Salicula in 1400 that survived the 1908 disaster.
Visiting
The cathedral faces Piazza Duomo, which is also home to Montorsoli's Renaissance Orion Fountain. Visitors can explore the reconstructed Norman-Gothic architecture, inspect the surviving artworks and mosaics, and admire the massive scale of the cathedral organ.
Our editors' tip
Walk a short distance uphill from the bell tower to find an elevated viewpoint overlooking the entire Strait of Messina, with the coast of Calabria visible across the water.