LANDMARKS
Cattedrale di Sant'Agata
Religious Building
MUST TO SEE
ABOUT
The cathedral is dedicated to the city’s patron saint Sant'Agata, a virgin-martyr who was killed in 351 for refusing the lecherous advances of a Roman lord. Her mortal remains are in reliquaries in the cathedral.
It was originally constructed in 1078–1093, on the ruins of the ancient Roman Achillean Baths, by order of Roger I of Sicily, who had conquered the city from the Islamic emirate of Sicily.
The cathedral has been destroyed and rebuilt several times because of earthquakes and eruptions of the nearby Mount Etna.
In the cathedral, visitors can find the tomb of Vincenzo Bellini, the renowned classical composer. Born in Catania in 1801, he is celebrated for his numerous operas, including his masterpiece, "Norma".
ACCESS
Free
REVIEW
LOCATION
Chiesa della Badia di Sant'Agata
Religious Building
MUST TO SEE
ABOUT
The Badia di Sant’Agata, also known as the Abbey of St. Agatha, is an 18th-century Baroque-style Roman Catholic church attached to a female convent. It is situated just across the street from the left transept of the Catania Cathedral in Catania.
The nunnery was founded in 1620, under the Benedictine rule, and was dedicated, along with a half-dozen local churches, to St Agatha of Sicily, patron of Catania. The original convent was razed by the 1693 earthquake. In 1736, the construction of a new church, replacing the destroyed original, got underway to the design of Giovanni Battista Vaccarini.
Inside the church there is a metal grill behind the main altar, with a viewing balcony allowing nuns to attend the mass, whilst being separated from the public. The base of the dome allows for views of the city and the looming volcano of Mount Etna.
The interior is an elongated octagon with white Carrara marble floor and amber-coloured altars in Castronovo marble.
ACCESS
Church: Free
Terrace: 5 EUR
REVIEW
LOCATION
Fontana dell'Amenano
Square / Fountain
Piazza del Duomo
Square / Fountain
MUST TO SEE
ABOUT
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 baroque style and crowned by the grand Cattedrale di Sant'Agata. At its centre stands Fontana dell'Elefante, a naive, smiling black-lava elephant dating from Roman times and surmounted by an improbable Egyptian obelisk. Another fountain at the piazza's southwest corner, Fontana dell'Amenano, marks the entrance to Catania's fish market.
19th-century Fontana dell'Amenano, created by Neapolitan sculptor Tito Angelini, the splash-happy piece commemorates the Amenano river, which once ran above ground and on whose banks the Greeks first founded the city of Catania, which they named Katáne.
ACCESS
Free
REVIEW
LOCATION
Fontana dell’Elefante
Square / Fountain
NICE TO SEE
ABOUT
The fountain was constructed in the 1730s by Sicilian architect Giovanni Battista Vaccarini, who appropriated the city's by-then legendary elephant as its centerpiece. Vaccarini draped a marble saddle cloth over the elephant that bears the coat of arms of St. Agatha, Catania's patroness.
Made of lava stone and dating from the Roman period, the comical statue is of an adorable elephant, known locally as Liotru and the symbol of the city. The statue is surmounted by an improbable Egyptian obelisk.
Legend has it that the elephant belonged to the 8th-century magician Eliodorus, who reputedly made his living by turning people into animals. The obelisk itself is said to possess magical powers that help ease Mt Etna's volatile temperament.
ACCESS
Free
REVIEW
LOCATION
Villa Bellini / Chiosco Bellini
Natural Beauty
Anfiteatro Romano di Catania
Historical Building
Biblioteche Riunite Civica e A. Ursino Recupero
Historical Building
Castello Normanno - Svevo di Aci Castello
Historical Building
Monastero dei Benedettini di San Nicolo l'Arena
Historical Building
Museo Storico dello Sbarco in Sicilia 1943
Concept Museum
Teatro Antico Greco-Romano di Catania
Historical Building
