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Comune in Sicily, Italy
Photo: (WT-en) DanielC at WikiTravel, CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons
Villafranca Tirrena is in the province of Messina on the island of Sicily, Italy. It is 22 km across the Straits of Messina to the region of Calabria. The municipality of Villafranca Tirrena contains the frazioni (subdivisions, mainly villages and hamlets) Serro, Divieto, Castelluccio, Castello, and Calvaruso. As of November 2025, it had a population of 7,740 and an area of 14.3 km². The main economical resources of the city are: commerce, small industries, agriculture, that includes the cultivation of lemons, oranges, mandarin oranges, olives and wine production, tourism.
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Bauso Castle
The Castle in Villafranca Tirrena built in 1590. It conserved a hall with frescoes, marble medallions portraying four members of the Pettini family, and tombstones inscriptions.
Museo Ottavio Badessa
This museum is dedicated to the memory of the Doctor Ottavio Badessa. Born in 1898 in Bauso, nowadays called Villafranca Tirrena, he was graduated in Medicine in Naples and attended the Maternity Hospital of the “Università di Messina” and for thirty years he was being country doctor of Villafranca Tirrena. Every object exposed comes from the private collection of his son, the Doctor Paolo Badessa, Anaesthesia and Intensive care Head Physician at the hospitals of Solleftea (Sweden), Niscemi (Caltanissetta) and Patti (Messina). At the museum there are exposed many medical instruments, perfectly functioning, of every kind and speciality, collected with passion during more than 40 years in many Western countries. In memory of his father's work, the collection was given at the town of Villafranca Tirrena in order to be shown in a museum built for the benefit of citizens, visitors and enthusiasts.
The property also features the historic La Lanterna Restaurant and Pizzeria, located in the same building.
By train
Villafranca is Sicily's link to the main Italian train network. Long distance trains from Rome and Naples cross the Straits of Messina by ferry and continue on to Palermo and Catania.
By bus
Long-distance buses stop in Messina, linking Rome and Naples to Catania and Palermo. Regular local buses also run to Villafranca, Milazzo (for the Aeolian Islands) and Taormina.
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Reggio Calabria · Regional · REG
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