TUSA
The
town of Tusa is located in the Messina province at 614m a.s.l.,
north of Pizzo Taverna. It has a population of some 3,600 inhabitants.
Tusa history is much uncertain. It seems that it was founded by
exiles from Halaesa, after this was destroyed by the Arabs. The
earliest record dates back to 1134.
It
is a small town nestled high up a mount amidst a splendid landscape.
The upper side of town, accessed by a Gate, retains much of its
medieval look. Here are scattered the most attractive buildings.
The Chiesa Madre, with its elegant pointed doorway, has a fine interior
decorated with a Renaissance marble Annunciation dated 1525, a fine
1600’s wooden choir-stall carved with dragoons, cherubs and
mask decorations, and a Gagini-style Madonna and Child. A fine bell-tower
stands beside the church. Other interesting buildings line the narrow
streets of the old town, such as the stone-made Chiesa di San Nicola,
with its belfry with maiolica spires.
In
the environs of the city is the Tusa river, being the ancient Halaeusus,
a site of high naturalistic interest.
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