The bell tower of the Cathedral of Messina is 90 meters high and has a base of about 10 meters. What makes it unique is the astronomical clock integrated in the bell tower. It is the largest and most complex mechanical astronomical clock in the world, therefore it boasts a Guinness record. Made by the Ungerer brothers in Strasbourg and inaugurated in 1933, every day of the week at noon it starts the movement of several bronze automata that move to the sound of Schubert’s Ave Maria for about 12 minutes. Observing them carefully you can see that the figures in action represent the scenarios of the War of Vespers of 1282. There is the lion at the top symbolizing the Sicilian people and the city of Messina, victorious over Charles of Anjou. At the tolling of the astronomical clock the lion roars three times moving its tail. Then we see the Messina heroines Dina and Clarenza, the rooster, the dove, Christmas and Easter scenes and the planetarium.
