PhD Program in Historical studies
The Giants of Messina
The Giants of Messina are two huge giants on horseback, built by the Senate in the sixteenth century, in order to exalt the noble and ancient origins of the town. Over the centuries, original artifacts have been restored several times. The Giant and Giantess or, as they are called by the people of Messina, ‘u Gialanti and ‘a Gialantissa, are taller than eight feet from the ground. In the past the two statues, which were hollow inside, were made primarily of wood and canvas and stood on poles on wagons; a hundred bearers carried them on their shoulders, with a movement that mimicked a horse ride. After the damage caused by the Second World War, the giants have been completely redone in plaster, placed on iron platforms with wheels and dragged with the help of long ropes. The two giants parade during the Feast of the Assumption, which is celebrated in mid-August and culminates with the procession of the vara , the baroque pageant symbolizing the Assumption of Mary into heaven. Originally, it was the equestrian statue of the Virgin Mary to participate in the processional ride led by the Senate of the city. Subsequently, the giants took over the equestrian representation of the Assumption, which was placed inside a wonderful “machine”. Today, unlike in neighboring Mistretta, the giants of Messina walk through the city at different intervals than the vara of the Assumption. It is likely that at one time there was only one parade, and that only after the restrictive measures taken by the civil and ecclesiastical authorities in seventeenth and eighteenth centuries the giants were forbidden from taking part in the religious procession (which happened also in other places in Europe). The two puppets, one female and one male, are known as Mata and Grifone. Beyond the debate on the etymology of the names, there is no doubt that there is a reference to the topos of the struggle between Moors and Christians, though the cosmogony of Hesiod and other theories have also been advanced to explain the meaning and origin of the giants of Messina.