Milazzo
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Milazzo (Sicilian: Milazzu, Latin: Mylae) is a town and comune in the province of Messina, Sicily, Italy.
The city is situated between two bays, one of Milazzo and the east to the west of Patti, in a strategic place in the north-eastern Sicily. Located 43 km from the provincial capital, is part of the metropolitan area of the Strait of Messina, and is the reference point of an area of over 200,000 inhabitants.
Originally a Greek city, and from 36 BC recognized as a Roman civitas, Milazzo is now a tourist destination and a great starting point for the Aeolian Islands, the Nebrodi Park, Tindari. There are numerous testimonies, the symbols of the ancient history of the city.
Plans are in progress to enter the castle, the fortified town and the ancient village in the sites of UNESCO. The promontory of Capo Milazzo became a marine reserve.
History
Several civilizations settled in Milazzo and left signs of their presence from the Neolithic age. In Homer’sOdyssey Milazzo is the place where Ulysses is shipwrecked and meets Polyphemus. Some people took the towns name as their last name “Milazzo”.
Historically, the town originated as the ancient Mylae, an outpost of Zancle, occupied before 648 BC, perhaps as early as 716 BC. It was taken by the Athenians in 426 BC. The people of Rhegium planted here the exiles from Naxos and Catana in 395 BC as a counterpoise to Dionysius the Elder’s foundation ofTyndaris; but Dionysius soon took it. In the bay Duilius won the first Roman naval victory over theCarthaginians (260 BC).
In 36 BC the naval battle of Mylae was fought offshore. The fleet of Octavian, commanded by Marcus Agrippa, engaged that of Sextus Pompey. While the battle was nearly a draw, Sextus could not replace his losses, and was thus weaker at the following battle of Naulochus (36 BC), where he was utterly defeated.
After the fall of the Western Roman Empire, under the Byzantines, the town became one of the first episcopal seats of Sicily. In the 7th century Milazzo was conquered by the Arabs, who built here the first nucleus of the castle. Frederick II of Hohenstaufen further fortified the town and created here a personal hunting park. The castle was later mostly rebuilt in the age of Charles V of Spain.
Milazzo was also the seat of a battle in 1718 between Spain and Austria, and of another fought by Giuseppe Garibaldi against the Kingdom of Two Sicilies during his Expedition of the Thousand.
Main Sights
- Castello di Milazzo
- Rock church of St. Anthony of Padua
- Sanctuary of St. Francis of Paola
Map
Photos by Marco Puglisi
Note: This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from theWikipedia article “Metasyntactic variable” and Creative Commons by Commons Deed. This information was accurate when it was posted, but can change without notice.
