Sacrario di Cristo Re, Messina, Italy

Sacrario di Cristo Re overlooks Messina from a hill that once was the site of a Roman acropolis and later a Norman castle dedicated to Richard the Lionheart. The neo-baroque structure was built in 1937 as a memorial to WWI casualties. It contains the bodies of about 1,000 soldiers. Next to the church is this 130 ton bronze bell. It was cast from melted down enemy cannons and it sits on a tower from the ruins of the Roccaguelfonia fortress.

Religious sites in Italy

User Reviews

Stephen Guild (11 months ago)
A long walk up but worth it for the wonderful views over the city and the straits.

Sumit Roy (2 years ago)
One of the important places to visit in Messina. The view from up there is awesome. The church itself is a great architectural delight. It's historical and cultural. Walking all the way up there was an experience. Stay some time there and relax. Have coffee ☕. Don't forget to take pictures. The view in moonlit night is extraordinary

Phyllis Cook (2 years ago)
Beautiful building to visit with lots of interesting items to see.

Clinci Andreea Catalina (2 years ago)
My favorite place ever

Russell Clark (3 years ago)
A peaceful, simple and evocative memorial to those Italian soldiers who lost their lives in the allied attack on Messina. Go to reflect on the impact of war not just to look at the view of the town and harbour.

Featured Historic Landmarks, Sites & Buildings

Photo from Flickr, copyright Giåm

Historic Site of the week

Glimmingehus

Glimmingehus, is the best preserved medieval stronghold in Scandinavia. It was built 1499-1506, during an era when Scania formed a vital part of Denmark, and contains many defensive arrangements of the era, such as parapets, false doors and dead-end corridors, 'murder-holes' for pouring boiling pitch over the attackers, moats, drawbridges and various other forms of death traps to surprise trespassers and protect the nobles against peasant uprisings. The lower part of the castle's stone walls are 2.4 meters (94 inches) thick and the upper part 1.8 meters (71 inches).

Construction was started in 1499 by the Danish knight Jens Holgersen Ulfstand and stone-cutter-mason and architect Adam van Düren, a North German master who also worked on Lund Cathedral. Construction was completed in 1506.

Ulfstand was a councillor, nobleman and admiral serving under John I of Denmark and many objects have been uncovered during archeological excavations that demonstrate the extravagant lifestyle of the knight's family at Glimmingehus up until Ulfstand's death in 1523. Some of the most expensive objects for sale in Europe during this period, such as Venetian glass, painted glass from the Rhine district and Spanish ceramics have been found here. Evidence of the family's wealth can also be seen inside the stone fortress, where everyday comforts for the knight's family included hot air channels in the walls and bench seats in the window recesses. Although considered comfortable for its period, it has also been argued that Glimmingehus was an expression of "Knighthood nostalgia" and not considered opulent or progressive enough even to the knight's contemporaries and especially not to later generations of the Scanian nobility. Glimmingehus is thought to have served as a residential castle for only a few generations before being transformed into a storage facility for grain.

An order from Charles XI to the administrators of the Swedish dominion of Scania in 1676 to demolish the castle, in order to ensure that it would not fall into the hands of the Danish king during the Scanian War, could not be executed. A first attempt, in which 20 Scanian farmers were ordered to assist, proved unsuccessful. An additional force of 130 men were sent to Glimmingehus to execute the order in a second attempt. However, before they could carry out the order, a Danish-Dutch naval division arrived in Ystad, and the Swedes had to abandon the demolition attempts. Throughout the 18th century the castle was used as deposit for agricultural produce and in 1924 it was donated to the Swedish state. Today it is administered by the Swedish National Heritage Board.

On site there is a museum, medieval kitchen, shop and restaurant and coffee house. During summer time there are several guided tours daily. In local folklore, the castle is described as haunted by multiple ghosts and the tradition of storytelling inspired by the castle is continued in the summer events at the castle called "Strange stories and terrifying tales".

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