Built by the Normans, it was consecrated in 1197 by the Archbishop Berardo. Henry VI, Holy Roman Emperor and Constance I of Sicily were present to witness the ceremony. The current building is the final result of some twentieth-century reconstructions, which took place following the disastrous earthquake that struck Messina in 1908 and the considerable damage that resulted from the heavy aerial bombardment in World War II.The tower houses the Messina astronomical clock, the largest astronomical clock in the world.Immediately below the belvedere there is a lion, 4 meters high, in gilded bronze like all the other automatons. It symbolizes the strength and the province of Messina. At noon, after the tolling of the bells, it begins the movements by waving the 6.3m high flag and wagging its tail. Then he turns his head towards the square and raising it he roars three times in a row. The movements of the lion are ensured by vertical and horizontal axes, while the movement of the flag is due to a rotating platform. The flag is not the original one, as it was the subject, at the end of the 60s, of a theft by the Tuscan goliards in response to a similar action by those from Messina. On the same level as the Lion are eight bells.On the same floor are the rooster, Dina and Clarenza. The rooster is placed in the center and is 2.3m tall. It symbolizes the awakening of conscience. When the lion stops roaring, the rooster starts flapping its wings, lifting its head and crowing three consecutive times.
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