Following the administrative merger of Barcellona and Pozzo di Gotto in 1836 , the doubling of the population required a new larger temple . The project was accelerated by the disastrous 1908 Messina earthquake that damaged the old Cathedral of St. Sebastian and made it unusable . The old cathedral , dating from 1606 , would have also prevented the construction of the Via Roma , the natural access to the railway station . It formed , together with the adjacent '' Church of Agonizing '' , the Placido Mandanici Theatre ( destroyed by fire in 1967 ) and the Monte di Pieta , the old city of Barcellona until the first decades of the 1900 , when it was completely demolished during the building of the new Cathedral . After the adoption of the plan on April 1 , 1931 , construction started on January 25 , 1932 and ended October 30 , 1935 . The cathedral was inaugurated on March 25 , 1936 by the Archbishop of Messina , Monsignor Angelo Paino . The laying out of the square in front ended with the elevation of the Cathedral to the status of Minor Basilica by Cardinal Angelo Sodano on September 18 , 1992
1908 Messina earthquake
1908 Messina earthquake
Duomo of Barcellona Pozzo di Gotto