The Strait of Messina in Italy separates the island of Sicily from the peninsula. Even in antiquity, it was called the Strait of Scylla and Charybdis. But why did the sailors call it that? As you know, this name appeared as a warning about the terrifying monsters that lived nearby the strait. What else do we know about this amazing place? About the origin of the name, secrets and mysteries of the Strait of Messina we will tell in this publication.
Who was Scylla
According to tradition, Scylla was a beautiful Sicilian. Many rich suitors wooed her, but all of them were refused. But one day the following happened: she decided to swim in the sea when she was seen by the Commander. He was the son of Poseidon himself, because Glaucus was also a sea deity - half fish and half human. He immediately woke up to Scylla with passionate feelings in which he wanted to confess to her, but the girl was frightened of his unusual appearance and rushed to run. Therefore, Glaucus had to ask the witch Kirke for help. He wanted her to give him some love potion for Scylla.
But Kirke loved Glaucus, so she was offended by his choice in favor of an ordinary mortal girl. This prompted her to replace the love spell with another mixture that she poured into the water near the source on the shore, where she often went for a swim after the Scylla Sea. When the beauty entered the spring water, she realized that frightening faces of dogs appeared with her grin and bare teeth in open mouths. Fear seized her and she tried to go ashore, but the monsters rushed after her, shaking their terrible heads with snake necks. Only a few seconds passed, and they forever remained on Scylla's feet. The girl was in complete despair, after which she had to throw herself into sea water and swim away from her native places. There she managed to find a lonely cave in the very strait where Charybdis also lived. She remained in this rock, and the ships sailing past her became something of a kind of terrible tribute for her.
History of charybdis
Charybdis, like Scylla, was not a monster from the very beginning. It was a carnal being, however of divine origin. From a young age, a girl named Charybdis loved to steal, and she was also distinguished by terrifying gluttony. Once she stole several red cows from the hero Heracles, which he took from a giant called Gerion, and then ate them. As punishment, Zeus had to turn the insatiable Charybdis into a sea funnel. It became a whirlpool off the Calabrian shores, which could drag in any object that appeared near them.
Strait Width and Depth
In the narrowest northern part where the Strait of Messina flows, the width reaches only 3.15 kilometers. In the same area there are other minimum indicators. Here the Strait of Messina, the depth of which can reach up to a kilometer, for example, sags to small marks from 80 to 120 meters. From these places, it gradually becomes larger towards the north and increases with great speed in the southern part. About 500 meters and more than 2 kilometers nearby with Taormina.
Strait Studies
Who taught the Greek sailors to sail in Messina is not known exactly. However, there are suggestions that this was influenced by experience that has accumulated over several generations. By the ancient historian Polybius this skill was attributed to one of the deities, the patron saint of the wind, named Aeolus. Moreover, the ancient scientist said that his nature was human. Aeolus, he believed, had studied the behavior of ebb and flow in a perfect way. So, the waves that came from different directions interacted, which contributed to the appearance of a large number of water funnels. Therefore, the water area in this area was dangerous for ships.
In accordance with modern research, the Strait of Messina, where the awesome place of ancient sailors is located, passes where the seas join in opposition. Although the differences are small (about thirty centimeters), they can still lead to dangerous consequences. Particularly unpleasant for sailors is the current, which is called ascending. The dense masses of the Ionian Sea are heading north. Because of this, less dense Tyrrhenian water recedes and returns to its native basin. Moreover, a very large volume of ionic water collides in a narrow “saddle”. Therefore, there is a vertical fluctuation in sea level and terrifying funnels, the speed indicators of which can reach up to twenty kilometers per hour. For ships of the times of the ancient Greeks, such a mark was completely insurmountable. It is clear that for them these places were inhabited by terrible monsters, "killing" ships.
Modernity and the Strait of Messina
Of course, today ships can already, without fear, pass through the strait. Moreover, Messina is not so dangerous even for humans. In the summer of 2009, the strait was crossed by swimming in the narrowest section by a boy of eight years old by the name of Rosolino Cannio. However, he had to spend only about an hour on this. However, as before, the Strait of Messina, the photo of which you will see below, can cause troubles both for a person and for ships.
Bridge over Messina
The fact that Sicily does not have a stable and regular connection with mainland Italy is considered to be one of the reasons why the island is economically more backward compared to the rest of the country. This has prompted people for centuries to try to solve this problem. It is clear that the island needs to be connected to the peninsula using a bridge. Back in the 19th century, when Italy was united, in 1866 the famous engineer who was engaged in the construction of such structures, A. Cottrau received an order to develop his project. It was received from the ministry overseeing community service. And only in 2008 the final version of the project was approved. Its value was about 4 billion euros. The purpose of the bridge involves the movement of both cars and trains. The length of the structure should be more than three kilometers, and the length in the central span - 3.3 km. It will be suspended using pylons, the height of which will reach about 376 meters above sea level. It was assumed that the construction of the bridge will begin in 2010.
Messina power transmission line
In the 50s of the last century, a power line (220 kilovolts) was built through the Strait of Messina. Power line pylons are considered to be the highest around the world. Despite the fact that the line was subsequently replaced by an underwater cable, the pipes were preserved and today are a bit of a local attraction, which is of interest to tourists.