The Strait of Messina in Italy separates the island of Sicily from the peninsula. Even in ancient times 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 frightening monsters that lived near the strait. What else do we know about this amazing place? We will tell about the origin of the name, secrets and mysteries of the Strait of Messina in this publication.
Who was Scylla
According to legend, Scylla was a beautiful Sicilian. Many rich suitors wooed her, but they all were refused. But one day the following happened: she decided to swim in the sea when she was seen by the Commander-in-Chief. He was the son of Poseidon himself, therefore Glaucus was also a sea deity - half fish and half man. He immediately awoke passionate feelings for Scylla, 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 for help from the sorceress Kirke. He wanted her to give him some love potion for Scylla.
But Kirke loved Glaucus, so she wasoffended by his choice in favor of an ordinary mortal girl. This prompted her to replace the love spell with another mixture, which she poured into the water near the spring on the shore, where she often went for a swim after the Scylla Sea. When the beauty entered the water of the spring, she realized that frightening muzzles of dogs with grins and bared teeth in their open mouths appeared near her. She was seized with fear, 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 remained forever on the feet of Scylla. The girl was in complete despair, after which she had to throw herself into the 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 to her.
History of Charybdis
Charybdis, like Scylla, was not a monster from the very beginning. It was a carnal being, but of divine origin. A girl named Charybdis from an early age loved to steal, and she was also distinguished by a terrifying insatiability. Once upon a time, she stole several red cows from the hero Hercules, 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 has become a whirlpool along the Calabrian shores, which can suck in any object that is near them.
Width and depth of the strait
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 near Taormina.
Strait exploration
Who taught the Greek navigators to sail the Messina is not exactly known. However, there are suggestions that this was influenced by experience that accumulated over several generations. The ancient historian Polybius attributed this skill to one of the deities, the patron of the wind, named Aeolus. Moreover, the ancient scientist said that his nature was human. Eol, he believed, studied the behavior of the 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.
According to modern research, the Strait of Messina, where the frightening place of ancient sailors is located, passes where the seas meet in opposition. Although the differences are small (about thirty centimeters), they can still lead to dangerous consequences. Especially unpleasant for sailors is the current, which is called the rising. Densethe masses of the Ionian Sea tend to the north. Because of this, the 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 of the sea level and frightening funnels, the speed of which can reach up to twenty kilometers per hour. For the 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 that “kill” ships.
Modernity and the Strait of Messina
Of course, today ships can already pass through the strait without fear. Moreover, Messina is not so dangerous even for humans. In the summer of 2009, the strait was swum in the narrowest section by an eight-year-old boy named Rosolino Cannio. However, he only had to spend about an hour on it. However, as before, the Strait of Messina, the photo of which you will see below, can cause trouble for both people and ships.
Bridge over Messina
The fact that Sicily does not have a stable and regular connection with the Italian mainland is considered to be one of the reasons why the island is economically more backward compared to the rest of the country. This has motivated people for centuries to try to solve this problem. It is clear that the island needs to be connected to the peninsula by a bridge. Back in the 19th century, when Italy was unified, in 1866 the famous engineer,engaged in the construction of such structures, A. Kottrau received an order to develop his project. It was received from the ministry that controls public works. And only in 2008 the final version of the project was approved. Its cost was about 4 billion euros. The purpose of the bridge provides for 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 should be 3.3 km. It will be suspended from pylons, the height of which will reach about 376 meters above sea level. Construction work on the bridge was expected to begin in 2010.
Messina transmission line
In the 50s of the last century, a power line (220 kilovolts) was built across the Strait of Messina. Power transmission pylons are considered to be the highest in the world. Despite the fact that the line was later replaced with an underwater cable, the pipes have survived and today are something of a local attraction that is of interest to tourists as well.
