page_title: Messina
section_title: Literary references
hierarchical_section_title: Messina / Literary references
caption_attribution_description: The Statue of Messina (Dedicated to Ferdinand II of Bourbon, by sculptor G. Prinzi). Messina, Island of Sicily, Italy, Southern Europe.
context_page_description: Messina is the capital of the Italian Metropolitan City of Messina. It is the third largest city on the island of Sicily, and the 13th largest city in Italy, with a population of more than 231,000 inhabitants in the city proper and about 650,000 in the Metropolitan City. It is located near the northeast corner of Sicily, at the Strait of Messina, opposite Villa San Giovanni on the mainland, and has close ties with Reggio Calabria. According to Eurostat the FUA of the metropolitan area of Messina has, in 2014, 277,584 inhabitants.
  The city's main resources are its seaports, cruise tourism, commerce, and agriculture. The city has been a Roman Catholic Archdiocese and Archimandrite seat since 1548 and is home to a locally important international fair. The city has the University of Messina, founded in 1548 by Ignatius of Loyola.
  Messina has a light rail system, Tranvia di Messina, opened on 3 April 2003. This line is 7.7 kilometres and links the city's central railway station with the city centre and harbour.
context_section_description: Numerous writers set their works in Messina, including:
  Plutarch – The Life of Pompey (40 BC?)
  Giovanni Boccaccio – Decameron IV day V novel, Lisabetta da Messina – IV day IV Novel, Gerbino ed Elissa  (1351)
  Matteo Bandello – Novelliere First Part, novel XXII (1554)
  William Shakespeare – Much Ado about Nothing (1598) and Antony and Cleopatra (1607)
  Molière – L'Etourdi ou Les Contre-temps (1654)
  Friedrich Schiller – Die Braut von Messina (The Bride of Messina, 1803)
  Silvio Pellico – Eufemio da Messina (1818)
  Friedrich Nietzsche – Idyllen aus Messina (Idylls from Messina, 1882)
  Giovanni Pascoli – poem L'Aquilone (1904)
  Elio Vittorini – Le donne di Messina (Women of Messina, 1949) and Conversazione in Sicilia (Conversations in Sicily, 1941)
  Stefano D'Arrigo – Horcynus Orca (1975)
  Julien Green – Demain n'existe pas (1985)
caption: The statue of Messina
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