MuMe Museum Opens in Messina with Artworks Rescued from 1908 Earthquake

The Museo Interdisciplinare Regionale di Messina (MuMe) opens its full exhibition spaces on June 17, 2017, after a partial inauguration on December 9, 2016. Housed within the vast Zancle museum park—one of the largest in southern Italy at 17,000 square meters—the museum displays around 750 works across 4,700 square meters of exhibition space on two levels, spanning medieval, modern, and archaeological sections. The collection includes masterpieces salvaged from the rubble of the 1908 earthquake that devastated Messina, such as Caravaggio's 'Resurrezione di Lazzaro' and 'Adorazione dei Pastori,' and works by Antonello da Messina, including the 'Polittico di San Gregorio' and a double-sided panel purchased at Christie's in 2006. Funding for the museum totaled nearly 2 million euros from 2014 to 2015, 500,000 euros from 2016 to 2017, and about 8 million euros spent on construction from 1985 to 1994. The MuMe aims to serve as a cultural identity landmark for Messina, allowing locals and visitors to reconnect with the city's millenary history.