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Catania today is the industrial, logistical, and commercial center of Sicily. Its airport, the Catania–Fontanarossa Airport, is the largest in Southern Italy. The central "old town" of Catania features exuberant late- baroque architecture, prompted after the 1693 earthquake, and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site .
Catania, city, eastern Sicily, Italy, in the broad plain of Catania on the Ionian seacoast, south of Mount Etna. The city was founded in 729 bce by Chalcidians (settlers from Chalcis in the Greek island of Euboea) from Naxos, 50 miles (80 km) north. It acquired importance in the 5th century bce.
- The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica
Catania is a city of 310,000 people (2019) on the eastern coast of Sicily at the foot of Mount Etna, the biggest volcano in Europe. It is the second largest city in Sicily with the metropolitan area reaching one million inhabitants, a major transport hub, economic centre and a university city where you will enjoy a busy downtown and an active ...
- Teatro Massimo Bellini. Completed in 1890 and made for homegrown composer Vincenzo Bellini, Catania's opera house is suitably lavish, from the stucco-and-marble extravagance of…
- La Pescheria. Catania's raucous fish market, which takes over the streets behind Piazza del Duomo every workday morning, is pure street theatre. Tables groan under the…
- Monastero delle Benedettine. The Monastero delle Benedettine covers two adjacent sites: a Benedictine convent and the Chiesa di San Benedetto. Top billing goes to the church, built…
- Piazza del Duomo. A Unesco World Heritage Site, Catania's central piazza is a set piece of contrasting lava and limestone, surrounded by buildings in the unique local…
- Palazzo Biscari. This is the city’s most important palazzo and a symbol of Catania’s Baroque architecture. Following a devastating earthquake, the building was rebuilt by Ignazio Paternò Castello III, the fifth prince of Biscari, a great scholar, archaeologist and lover of the arts, who not only made it his home, but also established the first major Museum open to the public, containing his great archaeological collection.
- The Fish Market. Behind the cathedral in Catania, a tunnel created in the city walls built by Charles V houses the fish market; it is partly covered and partly in the open air.
- Catania’s Historic Monastery San Benedetto in via Crociferi. A UNESCO heritage site in Catania, it is one of the city’s symbols, recognisable by the arch that opens onto Via Crociferi.
- The Benedictine Monastery of San Nicolò l’Arena. At a 10-minute walk from Catania Cathedral you will find the Monastery of San Nicolò l’Arena, a jewel of late Sicilian baroque architecture and one of the largest Benedictine complexes in Europe.
Jan 7, 2024 · Situated on the Ionian coast, right under the shadow of the volcano Etna, Catania is Sicily’s second-largest city, a major commercial port and transit hub, and a convenient starting point for an Eastern Sicily road trip. It is usually known as “the Black City” due to the black lava stone used in its buildings, which also sit atop volcanic soil.
Catania, Sicily is a beautiful, Baroque city on the east coast of the Mediterranean’s largest island. The powerful Mount Etna stands tall over the city and dominates the skyline. It’s a UNESCO World Heritage Site with a history that dates back to the 8th century BC.
