Editing Milazzo

{{short description|Town in Sicily}}
{{for|the surname|Milazzo (surname)}}
{{redirect|Mylae|the town of ancient Thessaly|Mylae (Thessaly)|the town of ancient Cilicia|Mylae (Cilicia)}}
{{Expand Italian|date=January 2022|topic=geo}}
{{Infobox Italian comune
| name                = Milazzo
| official_name       = Comune di Milazzo
| native_name         = {{native name|scn|Milazzu}}
{{native name|el|Mýlai}}
 |nickname = The cape town
| image_skyline       = Via Giacomo Medici (Milazzo) 28 09 2021 01.jpg
| imagesize           = 
| image_alt           = 
| image_caption       = Via Giacomo Medici in Milazzo
| image_shield        = Milazzo-Stemma.svg
| shield_alt          = 
| image_map           = Map of comune of Milazzo (province of Messina, region Sicily, Italy).svg
| map_alt             = 
| map_caption         = Milazzo within the Province of Messina
| pushpin_label_position = 
| pushpin_map_alt     = 
| coordinates         = {{coord|38|13|15|N|15|14|29|E|display=it}}
| coordinates_footnotes = 
| region              = [[Sicily]]
| metropolitan_city   = [[Metropolitan City of Messina|Messina]] (ME)
| mayor               = Pippo Midili
| area_footnotes      = 
| area_total_km2      = 24.23
| population_footnotes = <ref name="istat">{{in lang|it}} [http://demo.istat.it/bil20111009/index.html Source]:  [[National Institute of Statistics (Italy)|Istat]] 2011</ref>
| population_total    =  31527
| population_as_of    = 31 May 2016
| pop_density_footnotes = 
| population_demonyms  = Milazzesi, Mamertini or Milaiti
| elevation_footnotes = 
| elevation_m         = 1
| saint               = [[St. Stephen]]
| day                 = First Sunday of September
| postal_code         = 98057
| area_code           = 090
| website             = {{official website|http://www.comune.milazzo.me.it/}}
| footnotes           = 
}}

'''Milazzo''' ({{langx|scn|Milazzu}}; {{langx|la|Mylae}}; {{Langx|grc|Μύλαι|Mýlai}}) is a municipality ({{lang|it|[[comune]]}}) in the [[Metropolitan City of Messina]], [[Sicily]], southern Italy; it is the largest commune in the Metropolitan City after [[Messina]] and [[Barcellona Pozzo di Gotto]]. The town has a population of around 31,500 inhabitants.

==History==
[[File:Baia del Tono (Milazzo) 18 98 2019.jpg|thumb|left|''Baia del Tono]]
[[File:Riviera di Ponente (Milazzo) 21 10 2020 05.jpg|thumb|left|''Riviera di Ponente]]
Several civilizations settled in Milazzo and left signs of their presence from the Neolithic age. In Homer's ''Odyssey'' Milazzo is presumably the place where Ulysses is shipwrecked and meets [[Polyphemus]].

Historically, the town originated as the ancient Greek ''Mylae'' ({{langx|grc|Μύλαι}}) in [[Magna Graecia]],<ref>{{Barrington|47, notes}})</ref> an outpost of [[Zancle]], occupied before 648 BC, perhaps as early as 716 BC.<ref>E. A. Freeman, ''History of Sicily'', I., pp. 395, 587</ref><ref>[https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0003.tlg001.perseus-grc1:3.90 Thucydides, Peloponnesian War, §3.90]</ref>
It was taken by the Athenians in 426 BC. The people of [[Reggio Calabria|Rhegium]] planted the exiles from [[Naxos]] and [[Catana]] in 395 BC as a counterpoise to [[Dionysius the Elder]]'s foundation of [[Tyndaris]]; but Dionysius soon took it. In the bay [[Gaius Duilius]] won [[battle of Mylae|the first Roman naval victory]] over the [[Carthage|Carthaginians]] (260 BC).

In 36 BC the naval [[Battle of Mylae]] was fought offshore.  The fleet of [[Octavian]], commanded by [[Marcus Agrippa]], engaged that of [[Sextus Pompey]].  While the battle was nearly a draw, Sextus could not replace his losses, and was thus weaker at the following [[Battle of Naulochus]] (36 BC), where he was utterly defeated.<ref>Dio 49.1–18</ref>

After the fall of the [[Western Roman Empire]], under the [[Byzantine]]s, the town became one of the first episcopal seats of Sicily. In the 9th century Milazzo was conquered by the Arabs, who built the first nucleus of the castle here.
[[Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor|Frederick II of Hohenstaufen]] further fortified the town and created a personal hunting park. The castle was later mostly rebuilt in the age of [[Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor|Charles V of Spain]].

Milazzo was also the seat of [[Battle of Milazzo (1718)|a battle in 1718]] between Spain and Austria, and of [[Battle of Milazzo (1860)|another fought]] by [[Giuseppe Garibaldi]] against the [[Kingdom of Two Sicilies]] during his [[Expedition of the Thousand]].

[[Pope Leo XIV]]'s paternal grandfather, John Prevost (né Salvatore Giovanni Riggitano Alioto) was born in Milazzo, on 24 June 1876.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.ancestry.com/c/ancestry-blog/entertainment-and-culture/pope-leo-xiv-sicilian-roots|title=Ancestry Discovers Pope Leo XIV’s Sicilian Roots|website=Ancestry.com|date=15 May 2025|access-date=16 May 2025}}</ref>

==Geography==
Milazzo borders with the municipalities of [[Barcellona Pozzo di Gotto]], [[Merì]] and [[San Filippo del Mela]].<ref>{{OSM|r|39568|Milazzo}}</ref>

Milazzo is the point of reference of a vast territory, from [[Villafranca Tirrena]] to [[Patti, Sicily|Patti]] (over 200,000 inhabitants). Is also, an important centre of the Strait of Messina Metropolitan Area (who also includes areas of [[Reggio Calabria]]), with the nearby town [[Barcellona Pozzo di Gotto]]. Located at the base of a peninsula that juts into the Tyrrhenian Sea with a small promontory, the town is {{convert|43|km|mi}} from the city of [[Messina]].{{citation needed|date=March 2017}}

==Main sights==
[[File:Castello Milazzo 01.jpg|thumb|left|[[Castle of Milazzo]]]]
[[File:Milazzo, chiesa del carmine 01.JPG|thumb|The church of the Carmine.]]
*[[Castle of Milazzo]]. Begun by the Arabs, enlarged by the Normans, restored and strengthened by [[Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor|Frederick II]], it is surrounded by walls with round towers built under [[Alfonso V of Aragon]], with a Gothic portal dating from the 14th century. Near the castle are the ruins of the fourteenth-century palace of the grand jury and the old cathedral (1603) probably built on a design by architect Camillo Camillians.
*the Church of Our Lady of Mount Carmel
*the Baroque Church of the Holy Crucifix (1629), housing a wooden canopy from the 18th century and a wooden crucifix from the early 17th century.
*Rock church of St. Anthony of Padua
*Sanctuary of St. Francis of Paola

==Economy==
Over time, the town is moving forward towards the sea by recording a continuous development of [[agriculture]] and fishing activities, [[Commerce|commercial]] and [[Industry (manufacturing)|industrial]].

==Transportation==
[[File:Porto di Milazzo.jpg|thumb|Port of Milazzo 2016]]
The port of Milazzo is a departure point for ferries to the [[Aeolian Islands]] and [[Naples]].

==See also==
*[[S.S. Milazzo]]
*[[Taberna Mylaensis]]

==References==
{{Wikisource1911Enc|Milazzo}}
{{Reflist}}

== External links ==
{{commons category|Milazzo}}
*{{in lang|it}} [http://www.comune.milazzo.me.it/ Milazzo official website]

{{Messina}}
{{Province of Messina}}
{{authority control}}

[[Category:Milazzo| ]]
[[Category:Coastal towns in Sicily]]
[[Category:Municipalities of the Metropolitan City of Messina]]
[[Category:Zanclean colonies]]
[[Category:Colonies of Magna Graecia]]
[[Category:Ancient Greek archaeological sites in Italy]]