Tempio Votivo di Cristo Re
When the military fort was destroyed by an earthquake the site was turned into a magnificent war memorial
The Shrine of Christ the King is built over (and includes some parts of) the remains of the medieval Castle of Matagrifone. Matagrifone was initially constructed as a wooden fortress in 1061 by the Norman Knight,Robert Guiscard, Lord of Sicily and upgraded in 1190 by King Richard of England during his stay in Messina as part of his journey to the Holy Land duriing the 3rd Crusade.
In 1240 King Frederick II, the Holy Roman Emperor instigated the reconstruction of the castle in limestone and the 16th century saw extensive fortifications added to the castle but over subsequent centuries it became the focus of a number of unsuccessful rebellions against the ruling Spanish by the populace of Messina. The designers of the defensive system had provided covering fire from two forts at higher elevation.
Having suffered damage in the 1783 earthquake, in 1838 it was converted into a prison which came under attack again a decade later in the 1848 anti-Bourbon insurrection. The prison was described as having a very tough regime. After the 1908 quake only a single octagonal tower a 16th century gateway and parts of the bastions walls were left standing. The tower is known locally as “Macalda’s Tower”. The tower is now capped with a massive bronze bell (7th largest in Italy) created by melting captured bronze cannon barrels. The octagonal tower is now an integral part of the war memorial.
The shrine was designed by Giovanni Battista Milani in the neo-Baroque style and constructed in 1937. It contains a baroque altar and chapel dedicated to the Virgin Mary and the remains of 1288 fallen Sicilian soldiers killed during World War II along with 161 unknown soldiers, and 110 Sicilians who died in WW1. The octagonal shrine has a huge dome with eight bronze statues depicting the six virtues of: Faith , Hope, Prudence, Justice, Fortitude and Temperance. In the center of the Shrine is an ornate marble sarcophagus on which is a figure of a dead soldier. The shrine dominates the skyline and visitors are additionally rewarded with fine views of the harbour and the straits of Messina
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