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1st World University Baseball Championship, Messina Web Master Nino Micali-Lillo Minutoli |
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IL BASEBALL A MESSINA
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Last friday in Messina,the opening ceremony of the inaugural edition of the World University Baseball Championship was held in Messina, Sicily in Italy . The Championship will there take place until August 11th. Sicily was the scene of the 1997 Summer Universiade and Messina was the location for the swimming and diving competitions. Although this is the first edition of the WUC, baseball was twice an optional sport at the Summer Universiades in Buffalo, USA (1993) and Fukuoka, Japan (1995).
Action!
The history of the town has
always been closely linked to the economic and strategic importance
of the site. Messina became the first Roman colony in Sicily. It
almost reached the size of a metropolis under the Byzantine Empire
and became an important military port under the Angevins. This
period of splendor lasted many centuries during which there
flourished all types of cultural activities with the presence of
distinguished humanists, philosophers and artists. Then the city
encountered some harsh times with the Great Plague of 1743, the
terrible earthquakes of 1783 and 1908 which destroyed 90% of the
town. All this contributed to reducing the role and importance of
Messina. After rebuilding the town, the inhabitants have managed to
recover a notable part of the historical, cultural and monumental
heritage, giving back to Messina the role that it deserves.
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