A tourist who, when getting off a cruise ship, finds himself looking for the existence of a complete archaeological itinerary or a museum in which the history of Messina, so tormented by earthquakes and bombings, is traced, will hardly find any indication, a clue, a a place open to the so-called “free use” in which this legitimate curiosity can be satisfied.
The beautiful “Accascina” regional museum or the partial display of some data and finds in the now multi-year headquarters of the Superintendence of Cultural Heritage, in the former site of the Good Shepherd, on Viale Boccetta, host a very partial nucleus.
Of course, by just casting a casual eye at the media we realize that interest in our history is now very out of fashion, our present imperative and above all our uncertain future are much more cultivated.
But apart from the fact that both live irremediably anchored to the roots of our past, without which every minimal construction is incomprehensible and fragile, a conscious “political” reflection, in the best sense of the term, on the increasingly current future planning and “restructuring” of Messina, also in light of economic availability that is difficult to repeat, should lead to finally giving “life” in a concrete way to the project of a true, authentic, great archaeological museum.
The location would be the one that has been discussed so many times in the past: the building of the former Regina Margherita hospital, a place large enough (by the way, what happened to the renovation project?) to be able to accommodate, together with the pavilions of a wide exhibition, including the offices of the Superintendence.
Without a doubt, this is the favorable moment to re-establish, define and concretely carry out this operation of great value not only cultural and political, but also, in perspective, of notable relaunch and tourist and economic return of Messina and Sicily.
The archaeological heritage that Messina possesses is immense. By bringing thousands of finds of exceptional value into a single site, a very rich review of data of great documentary value for the historical reconstruction of Messina, but also of some fundamental places in the province, would be created, with the collaboration of prestigious and highly trained scholars, that the University of Messina and the Superintendency have within them.
The archaeological materials, which are the result of many decades of excavations conducted in the city, are thousands, we reiterate, and have been lying for decades… in hundreds of boxes in various warehouses of the Superintendence.
To this we cannot help but connect the hope, to enhance the history of Messina, that the future museum will be named after great Messina archaeologist Giacomo Scibona, whose 16th anniversary of death marks today. Well, most of the foundations of this archaeological documentation were undoubtedly created by the intense field activity that Scibona conducted since the 1960s, when he represented for a “giant” like Luigi Bernabò Brea, an irreplaceable collaborator
In those years, the Superintendency of Cultural Heritage of Syracuse had jurisdiction over five provinces. These were the years of the building boom, of the building assault, of overbuilding. And the case of Zankle-Messana was and always remained the most thorny and difficult to manage. In Messina, which can be considered an emblematic site for research in particularly hostile circumstances, Giacomo Scibona was the protagonist for many years. Only on the basis of his countless urban excavations, conducted with sacrifice and sometimes personal “risk”, was it possible to draw up a first major archaeological map of the ancient city.
The circumstances, the data, the references, the inestimable value of this work which Scibona always conceived as a civil duty, are clearly highlighted in a contribution by Paola Pelagatti, academic of the Lincei and at the time Superintendent in Sicily, in the volume ” KTHMA ES AIEI, Studies and memories in memory of Giacomo Scibona”, published in 2017 by the Messina Homeland History Society. In fact, Scibona has illuminated with his excavations the history of the city of the Strait from Prehistory (just think of the Bronze Age tombs recovered in the excavation of the Palace of Culture), to the Greek age, to the Roman and medieval times (here is the excavation in the courtyard of Palazzo Zanca). After him, the activity of the Superintendency of Cultural Heritage, under the direction of Gabriella Tigano, Giovanna Bacci and Umberto Spigo, continued to broaden and deepen those investigations.
Yet Messina has forgotten Giacomo Scibona. No recognition, not even mention or remembrance in official ceremonies dedicated to important historical events. This is also a serious sign of the decadence of the era we are living in.
