| If you are looking for a European tourist | | | | our way south to Siracusa. The only time that |
| destination, consider the island of Sicily, a region of | | | | we'll leave the seacoast area is to visit Mt. Etna. |
| southern Italy. Depending on your interests, this | | | | Messina is Sicily's third largest city with a |
| beautiful area can be an ideal vacation spot. You | | | | population of about one quarter of a million. It was |
| can get classic Italian food, and wash it down with | | | | founded by the Greeks in the Eighth Century B.C. |
| fine local wine. And parts of Sicily haven't yet | | | | and like many parts of Italy changed often hands |
| been discovered by tourists. This article presents | | | | over the centuries. Messina has been accused of |
| eastern Sicily. A companion article presents | | | | being the port of entry for the Black Plague that |
| western Sicily. Another companion article presents | | | | decimated Europe during the Middle Ages. In the |
| Sicily's capital, Palermo. | | | | mid-Sixteenth Century St. Ignatius founded the |
| We'll start our Sicilian virtual tour in the northeast | | | | world's first Jesuit College, which later became |
| corner at Messina on the Ionian coast and work | | | | part of the University of Messina. |