3-101-948 - Ware in the World/Heritage Images

The Strait of Messina, Sicily, c1970s. View of Messina harbour showing the Forte del Santissimo Salvatore, built in the mid-16th century, and the Madonna della Lettera (Our Lady of the Letter) Monument, erected in 1934. The monument features a tall column topped by a gilded bronze statue of the Virgin Mary, with the Latin phrase "Vos et ipsam civitatem benedicimus" (We bless you and the city itself). The Strait of Messina is a narrow strait between the eastern tip of Sicily (Punta del Faro) and the western tip of Calabria (Punta Pezzo) in Southern Italy. It connects the Tyrrhenian Sea to the north with the Ionian Sea to the south, within the central Mediterranean. At its narrowest point, between Torre Faro and Villa San Giovanni, it is 3.1 kilometres (1.9 miles) wide.