Messina Cathedral

Messina Cathedral is a Roman Catholic cathedral located in Messina, Sicily. Formerly the episcopal seat of the Diocese of Messina, it became in 1986 the archiepiscopal seat of the Archdiocese of Messina-Lipari-Santa Lucia del Mela.

In June 1947 Pope Pius XII granted it the status of a minor basilica.

Built by the Normans, it was consecrated in 1197 by the Archbishop Berardo. Henry VI, Holy Roman Emperor and Constance I of Sicily were present to witness the ceremony. The current building is the final result of some twentieth-century reconstructions, which took place following the disastrous earthquake that struck Messina in 1908 and the considerable damage that resulted from the heavy…