Shrine of Christ the King - Messina, Italy
Posted by: 
neoc1
N 38° 11.781 E 015° 33.091
33S E 548292 N 4227744
The Shrine of Christ the King (Sacrario di Christo Re) is prominently located on a hilltop at Viale Principe Umberto 93, Messina, Italy.
Waymark Code: WM11T3R
Location: Sicilia, Italy
Date Posted: 12/14/2019
Views: 1
The Shrine of Christ the King is built on top of the remains of the medieval Castle of Matagrifone. It was designed by Giovanni Battista Milani in the neo-Baroque style and constructed in 1937.
The shrine contains a baroque altar and chapel dedicated to the Virgin Mary and the remains of 1288 fallen Sicilian soldiers from World War II, 161 unknown soldiers, and 110 who died in the First World War.
The octagonal shrine has a huge dome with eight bronze statues depicting the virtues of: Faith , Hope, Prudence, Justice, Fortitude and Temperance and an allegory of Religion. In the center of the Shrine is a a marble sarcophagus on which is supine a figure of a soldier by sculpted by Antonio Bonfiglio. The sarcophagus is inscribed:
ET NOMEN EORUM VIVIT
IN GENERATIONEM ET GENERATIONEM
ECCL. CAP. 44 VER. 16
AND THEIR NAME LIVES
FROM GENERATION TO GENERATION
ECCL. CAP. 44 VER. 16
and
CORPORA EORUM
IN PACE
SEPULTA SUNT
THEIR BODIES ARE
BURIED IN PEACE