Piazza Universita by rsleisk
In 1434 the king, of Spain and Sicily, Alfonso of Aragon and Pope Eugene IV authorised the foundation of a university in Catania. Prior to this, the main education centres had been Palermo, Messina and Trapani but none of them could grant degrees; a right which could only be given by the Pope. It was not until 1444, however, that the first four faculties were established in Medicine. Philosophy, Law and Theology & Arts. In 1445 the first students attended classes but it was not until almost two centuries later that the university gained its own establishment in Piazza Università where it stands today, in the former grounds of the hospital of St. Mark's.