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Torregrotta
Torregrotta (Sicilian: Turri) is a town and municipality (comune) in the Metropolitan City of Messina in the Italian region Sicily, located about 170 kilometres (110 mi) east of Palermo and about 30 kilometres (19 mi) west of Messina. It is the twelfth most populous municipality in the Metropolitan City and the most densely populated. The town, located 44 m above sea level in the Niceto valley, lies between the Tyrrhenian Sea and the foothills of the Peloritani Mountains. Rising initially in the Middle Ages as a hamlet of the fief of Santa Maria della Scala, it was rebuilt in 1526 after a period of abandonment. In the early 19th century it became a sub-municipality of Roccavaldina from which it obtained administrative autonomy in 1923. The 16th-century core expanded mainly from the second half of the 19th century. A centre historically linked to agriculture, the place of origin of the sbergia, it has lost its traditional agricultural vocation in favour of the tertiary sector. The clay quarrying and processing industry had a certain impetus in the 20th century, dying out almost completely in the 2000s. Medium and small artisanal enterprises prevail. HistoryTransportTorregrotta is served by the Torregrotta railway station which has regular connections to Palermo, Messina and to the main towns of the northern coast of Sicily. Services are provided by Trenitalia. MonumentsThe traces of Torregrotta's architectural and artistic past are very few but significant: in via Mezzasalma you can still see the only remaining crenellated portal of the ancient Castrum dating back to the sixteenth century. Interesting traces of the original settlement can be found enclosed in the area around Via Trieste, where the remains of the ancient Castrum tower and houses from periods between the fourteenth and nineteenth centuries still exist. Incorporated among the ruins of an eighteenth-century house are the remains of a church which, due to its architectural style, can be traced back to the 1300s. Another interesting trace, especially for its historical value, is the stone icons depicting the Madonna della Scala, which had the function of marking the boundaries of the fief. Those that remain in the municipal area are located in via dei Mille and in the district of Largari. Equally important from a historical point of view is the painting preserved in the church of S. Paolino depicting the deposition of Christ from the Cross, a canvas dating back to 1671, commissioned by the priest Don Nicolò Bitto (depicted in the right corner, below) to adorn the church of Maria SS. Della Pietà, no longer existing today. Finally, the war memorial, recognition of the Torresi towards the martyrs of the battlefields, which was the first to be inaugurated in Sicily in September 1919.[3] References
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