Sterope - Gabel

Tripi (Messina) is a village located on a hill a few kilometers from the Tyrrhenian coast, where the remains of the ancient city of Abakainon, probably of Sicel origin, later Hellenized, are found.

Situated at an altitude of 450 meters above sea level, from which you can see the Aeolian Islands in the Tyrrhenian Sea.

According to the historian Maurolico, it was formerly called Tripium or Steropium.

The name would derive from Sterope, one of the three Cyclopes, sons of Uranus (the sky) and Gea (the earth), brother of Arge and Bronte. He provided his services as a blacksmith to Vulcan, in the caves of the island of the same name.

Uranus and Cronus imprisoned the three brothers in Tartarus. Finally, Zeus defeated Cronus and freed the Cyclopes, who became his blacksmiths, also creating weapons and special objects, such as the trident for Poseidon and the helmet of invisibility for Hades.

Of the three brothers, Sterope was the one who specialized in the production of lightning bolts.

Upon our arrival in Tripi, we were greeted by a storm and several lightning strikes.

Perhaps between the mountains and the sea, between Mount Etna and the island of Vulcano, the giant Sterope still forges his lightning bolts, an element of connection between heaven and earth (Uranus and Gea).