Santa Teresa di Riva stretches on the Ionic coast of Messina and its territory is contained by the Agro’ River on the south ( where it borders with the commune of S. Alessio Siculo ). Through its entire length ( about 4 km ) it faces a wide magnificent beach, which is composed of different size sands and partially gravelly. This town, the most populous of the province of Messina, contained between the county town and Toarmina, originally was a part of the commune of Savoca and was known as as “Marina of Savoca” . First to obtain its autonomy from Savoca ( 1854 ), the territory of Santa Teresa di Riva was subdivided into three huge strong holds:

In 1819, a tax was imposed by the administrators of Savoca on the property, which the inhabitants of the Marina felt was excessive. The “ Marinoti ‘ stirred up and captained by Don Angelo Caminiti of Bucalo (he lived in a building on the path to Sparagona next to the tower of Baglio) formed a coalition in order to organize riots to punish the arrogance of the “ Saucoti “.

Finally, in 1853, after years of discontent and impositions by the “ powers to be “, Ferdinard II of Borbon signed the much hoped for decree at Gaeta, taking effect on January 1, 1854, which sanctioned the separation of the commune of Savoca and its marina, contained by the Agro’ River and the Pagliara River, which comprised of Furci, Bucalo, Porto Salvo and Barracca.

The new commune was baptized with the name of Santa Teresa in honor of Maria Teresa of Austria, the second wife of Ferdinand II. In 1861, Riva was added as an evident morphological characteristic of the area. In 1923, the village of Furci left and formed its own commune. According to the historians, in the southern part of the countryside, a little above the district of Barracca (a name derived from a wooden hut) near to where the elementary school is today, which served the employees assigned to collect the tolls from those who traveled between the Porto Salvo river and the Agro’ river bounded by the Agro’, comprised of Bolina, Catalmo, Scarsonello and Cantidati, the commercial station seems to have been by origin Fenice (Phoenix).

In this area there has even been found the shelter which the army of Pompeii Sixth used while awaiting the battle with Octavian ( 36 AD ). The other area of historical interest is situated north of the countryside, called “ Bucalo or Bucolo “, limited by the Savoca river, which means “feeding ox “, because of the rich pastures which covered the area. Some local historians put forth the possibility that Ulysees, Homeric hero, landed in this area, claiming the prerogative having fed the legendary “ ox of the sun “. There is an inkling of an ideal connection of a religious nature through the Fenecian colony of “ Phoenix “ and their latest descendants, who are those who populate Santa Teresa di Riva. The veneration of Mothr’u Carminu ‘ of Fenician origin (where the first center of Carmelites was born) here in fact in 1500, was very widespread to such an extent that it was dedicated as the principal church of the area and she was named the patron.

As a testimony to the strategic position which the “ Marina of Savoca “ had, even today we can see some of the antique guard towers which served to warn of evenual pirate incursions. They were placed thusly from the south to the north: Tower Catalmo, Tower Avarna (demolished), Tower Varata (demolished), Tower Baglio and Tower of the Saracens (in the commune of Roccalumera, still existing today and known by various names) Tower of Lumera or the Tower of Aunt Paola or Tower of Ficaraor, or Tower of Pagliara or of Palma (near the Pagliara River and the old village of Palma).

These towers are an unique architectural testimony of our past which remain (unfortunately, they have never been much appreciated or valued by anyone). Except for the forts, the shore area was, until the 1700’s, a true desert because the people were afraid of the pirates who infested the seas and thus each night the fishermen (who were based in an old building in Casaolotto) returned to Savoca in the district of S. Rocco which today is still remembered as the district of Marina because of this.

On March 30, 1780, the Marchese di S. Leonardo, Giovanni Carrozza bought the terrain (the plain of Bucalo), removed the Jesuits and rented it to diverse peasants of Savoca (inhabitants of Bucalo and Sparagona’) for the growing of vegetables (still today the people of Bucalo are nicknamed “urtulani”). So, after the abolition of the feudal system and the new constitution of 1812, there was born in the population of the Marina (which by now had about 100 people) a hope to govern themselves, constituting an autonomous community. The construction of the shore road from Messina to Catania about 1828, which took the place of the, by now, inadequate paths (the Consular Valaria), was surely decisive in developing the Marina.

The built-up areas grew along the state road, but were known by their particular characters, the town of Furci was developed in a form more evident, the fish (maybe because the original fishermen lived there, in the district of S. Rocco of Savoca. Others of some of the families of fishermen lived in Bagnara Calabra, some of whom are Dato, Foti, Crupi, Maccarrone). Instead the towns of Porto Salvo and especially Bucalo were dedicated to the activity of farming (the only original fisherman family of Bagnara, Maccarrone, established themselves in the district of the Holy Family in the Via dei Marina and the last descendant, also a fisherman, was “Minicheddu ” a character, remembered still today by all, with affection). But around the first half of the 1800’s a new cultivation, that of lemon, lessened little by little the prevalence of grapevines. In 1870 the Florentine landowner bought part of the plain of Bucalo from Marchese Carrozza (today the small district above the church Madonna del Carmelo has not inherited its name) and began to channel water and to irrigate (the first in the area) such cultivation taking water from Savoca River. Besides, he was the first to bring to our area, a steam engine in 1881 to move the water wheel and lift the water.

In the census of 1881, Santa Teresa had 1500 inhabitants. The whole area was planted with lemons and for 60-70 years this culture was the pride and wealth of all the landowners of the entire community. From September to April, in those 50 years, there was shipped out daily by rail on average 15 to 20 tons of lemons. Tightly joined to the lemon was “Citrica” (from the adjective citric – acid which is found in lemons) an industry begun in 1921 in the area of Bucalo on Via Sparagona’ which washed the fruit and extracted the essential oils and other minor by-products, having a daily production of 12 q. of citric acid.

That industry was not well looked upon by the lemon wholesalers, who saw it as a huge competitor, absolute boss of the market and thus, they oppose it. The business, for various reasons, which closed in 1940, employed 60 people (in memory there remains today a gracious little liberty-styled villa which in those times was used as a house for the employees, suggested by P.R.G. as a building of historic interest). In the same establishment the year afterwards, the “Atelana” took over, a little business which was lava stones (unique in Italy) from the sides of Etna for the production of fiber glass, thermo-acustical insulaltion used, in its time, in the building trade, in railroad cars, in boats, etc. The establishment, above mentioned, transformed volcanic lava, immense pieces 30 x 70 cm. in ovens at 1800 degrees, into mineral wool. In the years of major production, it received orders from Tunisia, from South America. from Liberia, as well as from northern Italy. That industry which employed 35 people closed in the middle of the ‘60’s (the main cause seems to have been poor access to the building because of the narrowing of the railroad bridge).

In 1944 another small business was built (initially on Via F. Crispi at #458 from 1953 at Barracca ) adjacent to the Agro’ River. It was C.A.E.T. (reinforced concrete) for the manufacture of cement which employed about 30 people and there they fabricated blocks of cement for Electric Plants and telephone lines, building trade materials, shafts and tubes for use in irrigation. From June 1999 the above mentioned manufactures transferred to the commune of Furci Siculo and, at the site in Barracca, they are building residential villas. Thus ending at 1970, only the cultivation of lemons brought wealth and property to the whole Ionic coast.