About Sicily

Jaan Roose in the Land of Scylla and Charybdis: A Man Become a Myth Among the Myths

In the extreme north cap of Sicily, where the Tyrrhenian Sea meets the Ionian Sea, there is a strange tower that immediately brings to mind a much more famous tower: the Eiffel Tower in Paris. Beyond this “crazy/unusual” and forced comparison, this Pylon, together with its counterpart in Calabria, has recently returned to the spotlight for an extraordinary event.

Jaan Roose: The Tightrope Walker Between Calabria and Sicily

Jaan Roose’s feat will surely go down in history. Suspended 250 meters above the sea, on a rope less than 2 centimeters wide, he walked for more than 3600 meters in three hours, taking over 15000 small steps. Unfortunately, he will not enter the Guinness Book of Records because he fell almost at the end. Nonetheless, he achieved his goal among the applause of the people.

The Strait of Messina has always been a place of contention: between the Ionian and Tyrrhenian seas, between the winds, between Scylla and Charybdis, and between politicians who debate the construction of a bridge. Let’s explore more about this magical place that has always fascinated so many people, focusing particularly on Torre Faro, the pylon of Messina.

The Sicilian Eiffel Tower in the Land of Scylla and Charybdis

Traveling towards Capo Peloro, one of the three geographical points that shape our trinacria, you will be dazzled by the blue of the sea and the sparkling yellow of the beaches. Crossing the panoramic road of the Strait, from afar, you can see a strange iron tower of white and red color with its twin on the opposite banks of Calabria. This is Torre Faro, not a simple example of industrial archeology but a piece of the history of our land of Sicily.

Torre Faro is a trellis that carried the power line to Sicily. It was inaugurated in May 1956. The Sicilian pylon is 225 meters high, a height that made it the tallest pylon in the world until the pylons were constructed on the river Elba in Germany. The glorious career of the pylon ended in 1994 because the danger of the structure was recognized. On the strait, there is always a lot of wind, and the steel cables proved insufficient to meet the demand for electricity. Additionally, they were dangerous and hindering for air transport. The cables were removed and placed underground. The pylon was built in this area because it was and is the point of least distance between Sicily and Calabria, just over 3 kilometers.

The Strait of Messina: Where Reality and Fantasy Come Together

The Strait of Messina has generated stories in popular culture that are handed down to the present day. One above all is the eternal struggle between Scylla and Charybdis. Scylla, the one that tears, generates vortices on the coast of Calabria, while Charybdis, the one that sucks, forms vortices in front of the beach of Faro on the Sicilian coast. These vortices are actually caused by a combination of factors linked to the tidal currents typical of this area and the clash of the Tyrrhenian and Ionian seas.

Beyond any scientific explanation, the extreme peaks of Sicily have always aroused a fascination that gives rise to the most imaginative and irrational explanations. These explanations make us smile but are ones we probably like to believe as true.