Milazzo, known in Sicilian as Milazzu, is a historic municipality in the Metropolitan City of Messina, Sicily, Italy. It stands as the largest commune in the metropolitan area after Messina and Barcellona Pozzo di Gotto, with a population of around 31,500 inhabitants. Rich in history, Milazzo has been a crossroads of civilization for millennia, with evidence of Neolithic settlements and a significant role in Homer's Odyssey as the site where Ulysses encountered Polyphemus. The town's impressive castle, originating from Arab fortifications and later expanded by the Normans, Hohenstaufen, and the Spanish, dominates the landscape and tells the story of Milazzo's strategic importance through the ages.