The Patron
Eustochia Calafato
Eustochia Calafato is the patron, with 3 June as the feast date. The traditions section also identifies 3 June with the distinctive Madonna della Lettera devotion, so no further relationship is inferred.
— Castellesi
CASTELLESI COMUNE
Messina,
Sicilia
A city hit by two disasters, each destroying a different archive.
Messina faces Calabria across a strait two miles wide, and on 28 December 1908 an earthquake and the tsunami that followed destroyed the city and killed tens of thousands of its people.
Every researcher with Messinese roots has been told the records were lost in 1908. That is not what happened — but the outcome is nearly as difficult, and getting the story right changes what you should ask for and where.
The Strait
Swordfish fishing
Swordfish fishing in the Strait of Messina, using the distinctive tall-masted feluche, is a local trade of great antiquity. For a maritime family, it provides a specific occupational connection to the city and strait.
The Landmark
Duomo di Messina
The Duomo di Messina stands at the centre of the rebuilt city. Where civil records have been lost, surviving parish registers can become the principal route for reconstructing a family.
Did you know?
TWO DISASTERS, TWO DIFFERENT LOSSES
1908 and 1943 destroyed different records
Messina's municipal anagrafe was destroyed in 1908, while the State Archive largely survived that disaster and suffered catastrophic losses instead in the 1943 bombing. Surviving coverage therefore depends on the exact fond, year and whether the family was from the city or province.
LA PARLATA
How they speak
Italian is standard. Sicilian is widely represented in local speech and culture.
1908 is only half the story
Messina was founded by Greeks as Zancle , the sickle, for the shape of its harbour — one of the finest natural ports in the Mediterranean, and the reason the city has always mattered. Whoever held Messina held the strait between Sicily and the mainland.
Under the Normans and the Aragonese it was among the wealthiest cities in Sicily, with its own Consolato del Mare , its merchants trading across the Mediterranean, and later a silk industry of European standing. It rebelled against Spanish rule in 1674 and was punished with the loss of its privileges. It was struck by plague in 1743 and by earthquake in 1783 .
At 5.20 in the morning on 28 December 1908 , an earthquake of enormous force struck the strait. Messina and Reggio Calabria opposite were destroyed within seconds, and a tsunami followed. The death toll is uncertain and very large — in Messina alone, a substantial fraction of the population. Survivors left in enormous numbers, and many never came back. The children orphaned that morning were scattered across Italy.
The city was rebuilt to a new plan, low and wide against future earthquakes. Then, on 25 May 1943 , Allied air raids struck it again — and on that day the State Archive's main deposit burned.
Postcards from Messina
Wear Messina
Carry your heritage with pride. Timeless designs inspired by the heart of Messina.
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Where this
belongs
belongs
PROVINCIA DI MESSINA
Discover the beauty, culture and traditions of Messina and its remarkable comuni.
EXPLORE MESSINA →REGIONE SICILIA
From the mountains to the sea, Sicilia is a region of history, flavor and soul.
EXPLORE SICILIA →From the passenger index
At least 14,063 people who gave Messina as their home are recorded by name among Italian arrivals in the United States — each with the ship they sailed on and the day they landed.
A floor, not a total. The index covers arrivals through 1912, holds nothing between May 1907 and December 1911, and many passengers were written down with no home town at all. Where a name is there, it is there with its record.
Have Orso look for your family →Ready to visit
A rebuilt city on a famous strait
Getting there
The nearest major airport is Palermo, Catania, Trapani, or Comiso Airport, depending on the destination.
Messina is a modern city — necessarily, since almost nothing survived 1908 — laid out low and wide against earthquakes, along one of the most dramatic waterfronts in Italy.
For a descendant it is a sober visit. Largo 28 Dicembre 1908 , behind the cathedral bell tower, is the space the city has consecrated to the memory of the dead, and the annual commemoration is still held there.
The cathedral bell tower performs its astronomical clock at noon — the mechanical lion and cockerel are a genuine spectacle and the city's best-known sight.
The province is where much of the interest lies: Taormina, the Nebrodi mountains, Milazzo and the Aeolian islands are all reached from here, and Reggio Calabria is twenty minutes across the water.
What to see
The Duomo and its astronomical clock — at noon, in the piazza.
Largo 28 Dicembre 1908 — the memorial space for the victims of the earthquake.
The Vara and the Giganti — in August, if your timing allows.
Museo Regionale — holding Caravaggio's Messina paintings, among the works recovered after 1908.
The strait — the crossing to Calabria, and the swordfish boats.
Your family's parish — and, given the record losses, the most important stop of all.
The province — Taormina, Milazzo, the Nebrodi and the Aeolians, where the records may be in far better condition.
Family history
Where the records are
Archives and registers
The 1908 earthquake did not destroy this archive. The 1943 air raid did the damage.
Related places
Keep exploring
The journey does not end at the boundary of one comune. The province, the region and the neighbouring towns often hold the rest of the picture.
Your Roots. Their Story. Your Place.
Messina is more than a place on a map. It is a part of you.
FIND YOUR COMUNE →