The peninsula of San Raineri, on which Forte del Santissimo Salvatore was eventually built, had been inhabited since
antiquity, and Greek pottery dating back to the 8th century BC was found at the site. The fort got its name from a monastery and church dedicated to the
Holy Saviour, which were built on the peninsula in the Middle Ages. In around 1081, a tower dedicated to
Saint Anne was built on the peninsula, and it saw action during the
War of the Sicilian Vespers in 1282. In the 1540s, the fortifications of Messina were being modernized due to fears of the expanding
Ottoman Empire. The monastery and other medieval buildings were demolished to make way for Forte del Santissimo Salvatore, but the church and tower were retained and incorporated into the new fort. The fort was completed in 1546 to a design by
Antonio Ferramolino, a military engineer from
Bergamo. In 1549, the fort's
gunpowder magazine blew up, destroying the church in the process. In 1934, a large statue of
Saint Mary, known as the
Madonna della Lettera was erected in the fort, on the site of the medieval tower of St. Anne. Some restoration work has been carried out at the fort. It is still military property, being located near the
Italian Coast Guard's base in Messina. ==Layout==