San Gregorio<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nBefore the quake, from this very square, if you\u2019d look up with the Fountain of Orione at your right, you could see the most curious shaped tower.\u00a0 It belonged to the forever lost and forgotten Chiesa di San Gregorio, one of the many works of the Tuscan Andrea Calamech. One-third levelled by the quake, this church could have easily been restored, but it was once and for all destroyed by dynamite.\u00a0 A few pieces from the inside are chaotically exposed at the civic museum \u2013 which is why I know the story and chose to research it. I grew particularly fond of this piece of art, that suggests to me of a lost Messina that was once beautiful, proud but never presumptuous. \u00a0Not a cathedral, a small church. \u00a0Not a world known architect, but a good one, scholar of great Tuscan maestri, who gave to Messina and its surroundings the exclusivity of his work.<\/p>\n
During my visit I climbed the staircase (Scalinata di San Greogrio) on top of which the church once stood. \u00a0I felt like a very bad and clueless archaeologist, but full of hope. \u00a0I did find a bit of proof, not the one I wished for.\u00a0 Post-quake barracks are there today, the only reminder of this piece of history. \u00a0The whole neighborhood is neglected and dirty. \u00a0When I reached the very site, I looked down and I saw the beautiful harbor shining. \u00a0I saw the Duomo. \u00a0The very spot where these two great buildings where once looking at each other, was now covered in empty packs of cigarettes, beer cans, plastic bags, and dog excrement.<\/p>\n
It was then and there that I abandoned my project, which was to place a commemorative plate with a picture of the Chiesa di San Gregorio. \u00a0But I did not give up my hope for the rebirth of a town that still has got so much potential. Stop by to take a look at Messina when you make it to Sicily. Most people swiftly pass through on their way to nearby Taormina, our shining jewel, cleaned up and polished for the international tourists to marvel at.\u00a0 But you want the full experience, don\u2019t you?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
This is a guest post by my wife, Jessica Burgio, who writes about her Island of Sicily, and her hometown of Messina. \u00a0After reading it, you\u2019ll understand where much of the inspiration for my blog comes from. \u00a0 Not only does she have acute insights, but it\u2019s hard to believe that her English is almost […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3334,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[95,211,42,5,66],"tags":[261,140,262,139,381,193],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/rickzullo.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3323"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/rickzullo.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/rickzullo.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rickzullo.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rickzullo.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3323"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/rickzullo.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3323\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rickzullo.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3334"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/rickzullo.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3323"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rickzullo.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3323"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rickzullo.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3323"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}