A city of northeast Sicily, Italy, on the Strait of Messina, a channel separating Sicily from mainland Italy. Founded in the eighth century BC by Greek colonists, Messina was decimated by the plague in 1743 and suffered severe earthquakes in 1783 and 1908. The strait's rocks, currents, and whirlpools may have been the inspiration for the legend of Scylla and Charybdis.