Catania is an ancient city both medieval and baroque that was often completely destroyed by earthquakes, by the Etna eruptions and by different wars. For this reason here there are very few historical constructions: in the Catania cathedral you can see the ancient ruins of a Roman amphitheatre, of some Roman spas and of some Arab-Norman palaces. This city was completely rebuilt during the XVIII century.

Catania is placed at the bottom of the Etna volcano on the Ionic coast. It is an important industrial centre and its territory is characterized by the presence of many citrus plantations.

Today the Catania historical centre is crossed by two main streets: the first one is Via dei Crociferi where you can admire ancient palaces and baroque churches, the second one is Via Etnea that ends with a wonderful view of the Etna. Here there is the Catania University that dates back to the 1434 including the Volcanological Institute with its museum and the Astronomy Institute.

The palaces and places that deserve your attention are:

The Botanic Garden

This wonderful garden extends for 16.000 square metres where you can see some neoclassic constructions used as greenhouses: here there are many species of rare exotic, aquatic and Sicilian grasses.

The Bellini Garden

This is a perfect place to go for a walk admiring a beautiful landscape on the Etna. This garden extends for 70.000 square metres being made up by promenades, little squares, small bridges, flower beds and fountains. At the entry there are some statues representing the seven arts.

Via dei Crociferi

Thanks to its XVIII century magnificent baroque constructions, this is one of the most striking streets  in Catania. Walking through it you can admire many opulent religious buildings like the Church of San Benedetto, the Church of the Jesuits and the Church of San Giuliano.

The Dome Square (Piazza Duomo)

This is the main square in Catania being characterized by harmonious XVIII century palaces and by its central monument representing the symbol of the city: the Fountain with the Elephant. This is a Roman monument made up by stone formed by lava. Always in this square you can admire the Cathedral with the Sant’Agata Chapel where there is the very precious Sant’Agata treasure and the Palace of the Elephants (Palazzo degli Elefanti) that is the seat of the Catania municipality. From this square you can arrive to the most important street of this city: Via Etnea where there are wonderful baroque buildings with their lava powder façades and many shops and pastry stores.

The Ursino Castle

This is the unique medieval construction visible today in Catania. It was built in 1240 to protect this city from the sea but it was also used as a royal residence and as a prison. In 1934 it became the seat of the Civic Museum where you can admire various ancient paintings, sculptures and ceramics.

The Bellini Theatre

This imposing theatre was inaugurated in 1890 performing the famous “Norma” by Bellini. Many architectonical features of this construction recall the Paris Opéra: the many wrought iron decorations of its porch, its big hall with 4 series of boxes and one gallery, its corridors and the frescos of its ceilings.

The most important Catania churches are:

The Cathedral and the Sant’Agata Chapel

This church was built during the XII century but it was completely rebuilt in 1600 after the earthquake and after the eruption that destroyed this city. Inside the Cathedral there is the Chapel of Sant’Agata, the patron saint of this city, where there is the precious Treasure. Today this church is characterized by a very elegant and ornamented façade made up by polychrome marbles and carrying an image of Sant’Agata. Its internal structure is made up by three aisles where there are the Bellini and  the Costanza from Aragona graves. Here there also are the Sant’Agata memorabilia.

The Church of San Giuliano

This is one of the most beautiful churches in Catania thanks to its wonderful dome enclosed in a polygonal lodge and to its internal space characterized by marble decorations and by a gilt bronze altar. This construction was built during the XVIII century by Vaccarini.

The Church of San Nicola

The main feature of this church is represented by its very wide internal space made up by three 105 metres length aisles and by a 62 metres height dome. This imposing religious building is placed beside the Benedictine Monastery dating back to the XVII century. It is quite completely unfinished and its internal space is quite completely undecorated.

The Benedictine Monastery

This is one of the biggest monasteries in Europe being much more similar to a royal palace than to a religious construction. During the XVIII century this building was one of the most important Sicilian cultural centres and today it is the seat of the College of Philosophy and Letters of the Catania University.

Visiting Catania you will also find many museum-houses that belonged to very important personalities who lived in this city. The main residences you can visit are:

The Emilio Greco Museum

In this museum there are more o less 1500 graphic works made by the Catania artist Emilio Greco: here you can see interesting engravings and lithographs. 

The Giovanni Verga Museum-House

Giovanni Verga lived the last 20 years of his life in this XVIII century palace placed in Sant’Anna street. In this house there are many objects belonging to this writer: the most relevant room is the library made up by 3000 books written by several international authors like Deledda, Tolstoj, Gorkij, Flaubert and Dumas.

The Belliniano Civic Museum

This is the house where the famous music maker lived before moving to Naples. In this museum you can see the private and artistic life of Vincenzo Bellini: here there are very interesting original musical manuscripts signed by this artist.

The Biscari Museum

The beautiful Biscari palace was the residence of Prince Biscari. Here you can admire many frescos, galleries, archaeological finds, statues, marbles and other artistic marvels.

The Etna and the Sicilian sea

One of the Catania symbols surely is the Etna Volcano that attracts every year a great number of tourists coming from all over the world. This wide volcanic zone is included in the Etna Regional Park made up by many nature trails where you can do many excursions or guided tours.

Another important feature of Catania is the fact that it is placed on the Ionic coast where there is the Lachea Island Natural Reserve. This is a wide marine area including the Ciclopi zone: volcanic rocks created by very ancient eruptions and characterized by a sea bed full of different species of fish and of grasses. 

Catania is also famous for its lively nightlife thanks to the presence of a great number of pubs, discos, cafés, restaurants and other amusing places.

One of the most populated meeting point is the Alessi Step placed at the centre of the university city very near to Crociferi street where there are many nightclubs. Today you can choose among 120 pubs always full of people and, in addition, there also are 25 open theatres: every one of them is specialized in a particular genre that can be the Sicilian Puppet Theatre, the grand opera, the ballet, the Greek and classic tragedy or the experimental theatre. The Catania theatrical tradition has very ancient origins being an important part of the local culture itself. The most famous theatre surely is the Bellini one, then there also are the Metropolitan, the Verga, the Musco, the Teatro Club, the Piccolo Teatro, the Nuovo Teatro, the Teatro della Città, the Piscator, the Teatro degli Specchi and the Teatro Stabile dell’Opera dei Pupi.

Gastronomy

The fertile Catania territory is at the basis of the delicious local gastronomy: the most famous first courses are the “pasta alla norma” (with aubergines, tomatoes and salty ricotta-cheese), the “ripiddu nevicato” (rice with ink black, ricotta-cheese and tomatoes) and the cannelloni alla catanese.

As a second course you can choose among the swordfish “cù sammurigghiu” (grilled swordfish slices dressed with a hot sauce made up by olive oil, water, pepper, salt, garlic, parsley, lemon and oregano), the “zuzo” ( a lemon pork jelly), the “sfinci” ( ricotta-cheese or anchovies fritters), the marinated “mascolini” (fresh anchovies marinated in olive oil and lemon juice for at least 24 hours) and the tuna “all’agliata” (tuna cooked with garlic, parsley and mint).

There also are the Sicila fried rice balls sold in all the Catania roasted goods stores that offer many variations of them: with minced meat, with mushrooms or with pistachios. The original Catania rice balls are easily recognizable because they are shaped as a cone.

Also the “scacciate” are a typical local dish: they are bread dough cakes filled with local cheeses (like which one called “Tuma”), anchovies and several vegetables.

Staying in Catania you can taste the best ricotta-cheese cannoli made up by a crispy sheets of pastry filled with ricotta cream and chocolate chips or glazed fruits.

Another traditional Catania dessert is represented by the “olivette di Sant’Agata” (Sant’Agata small olives) that are green almond paste sweets prepared during the Sant’Agata feast. Other famous desserts also are the marzipan and the famous almond, lemon, coffee and chocolate granitas served with handmade fresh whipped cream.

All the kiosks spread throughout the city offer characteristic drinks like the lemon soda water and the Tamarindo with lemon and baking soda that is ideal to digest.

The Catania wines are produced in the Etna zone and the most important among them are the Randazzo and the Linguaglossa red wine, the “shadow” wine and the white wine of the Etna di Milo and the Sparviero dell’Etna red and white wine.

The Etna territory is very full of vineyards producing some of the most important enogastronomic products in Italy. 

Traditions:

Sant’Agata Feast – February

Events:

The Cantica – November/December

Tour around the Etna by the “Littorina” train

How to arrive in Catania

By Ferry

Catania has a tourist port connected to the city through a bus service. All the ferries coming from Naples arrive in this port. The urban centre can be easily reached by car going through the A18  Catania-Messina highway or through the A19 Catania-Palermo highway arriving in the ring road that surrounds the city.

By Plain

Catania has a unique airport called International Airport of Catania-Fontanarossa that is 15 km far from the city.

This airport covers the national traffic being also connected to some European and Mediterranean countries through many charter flights. You can arrive here travelling with the most important international companies like the British Airways, the Air France and the Lufthansa and with many low-cost companies like EasyJet and WindJet.

From the continental Italian territory you can reach this airport coming from many Italian cities like Naples, Milan, Rome, Palermo, Brindisi, etc.

The Catania-Fontanarossa airport is connected to the city through a bus service called ATM Alibus: this buses leave every 20 minutes from 5:00 A.M. to 24:00 P.M. The ticket costs 1€ and it lasts 90 minutes from the authentication. This bus service will lead you from the airport to the urban centre and to the urban railway station.

Coming from this airport you can also easily reach Catania by car going through the Primosole main road.

By Train and by Bus

Catania is also reachable by train because it is crossed by the Messina-Catania-Siracusa coast railway.

There also is a second railway called Circumetnea that crosses all the villages placed at the bottom of the Etna taking more or less three hours to tour all around this volcano connecting in this way Catania to Riporto.

The Catania Central Railway Station is the main one in the city being connected to the main urban roads. From here you can catch all the lines to move throughout the city or to go to the Catania port and airport.

By Car

Coming from Messina you should go through the E45-A18 highway until the Catania exit.
 
Coming from Palermo you should go through the A19 highway until the Catania exit.

…Enjoy your stay in Catania!

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