Catania Things to Do

What a lovely park, and right in the middle of Catania. Not too large, but really well kept and peaceful, full of seemingly happy and relaxed people. A must if you want to take a break from the messy city.

Saint Agatha is Catania's Patron and several churches, streets and monuments are dedicated tho the Saint.
Catania, brought back to life after every eruption of the Etna volcano, has bestowed some of the most beautiful churches and monuments to the Patron. On the inside of "S. Agata al Carcere", the III century remains of the gaol, where St. Agatha faced her martyrdom and death, are still to be seen. The Church of "S. Agata alla Fornace" (in piazza Stesicoro) and "S. Agata la Vetere" (the first Cathedral of Catania, and supposedly the first burial-place of the Saint) are non far. Many other places in Catania keep alive the memory of St. Agatha: "Badia S. Agata", the "stele" in piazza dei Martiri, the fountain in via Dusmet, the Norman-baroque Cathedral.
In most of Catanian private houses and in those churches where the Saint is officially venerated, busts of St. Agatha are easy to be found.
The whole province of Catania is rich with works of art dedicated to such a cult: the most famous of them is in Nicolosi, where Cardinal Dusmet saved the city using the veil of St. Agatha to stop lava flows

Catania has a really magnificent Cathedral.
Though extensively rebuilt on Baroque and neo-classical models, the oldest part of the cathedral (duomo) was constructed
in 1092.
Several royal personages are entombed there, including Frederick III of Aragon and Queen Constance,
wife of Frederick IV .

Ursino Castle, located in Piazza Federico di Svevia, at the end of Via Auteri between Via Plebiscito and Via Garibaldi, used to be a coastal fortress before volcanic eruptions extended the coastline. This castle was built by Richard de Lentina on the orders of Emperor Frederick II von Hohenstaufen in the first half of the thirteenth century and subsequently modernized in the manner of those at Messina, Taranto and Bari. It is now a museum open to the public.

This is one of the best modern exhibits Italy has to offer, believe it or not. It is TRULY a must-see. One of the largest WWII museums in Europe, and shockingly well-done. Housed in 'Le Ciminiere' (literally, the Smokestacks), an abandoned factory on the coast, this completely modern exhibit covers the 33 day American/British invasion from its dramatic beginnings on the southern coast near Noto, through the taking of Palermo and Catania and finally to the Axis escape across the straights. Multimedia, photography, artifacts and audio bring the story to life. Also, as an American, the opportunity to see the story from the other side was a welcome and impressive experience.

I'm sorry I don't remember how good the English was on the many, many placards and whatnot - I was reading the Italian so I didn't pay attention. The guides are also very friendly and helpful and many speak some English.

Can you believe the American forces wore WOOL? In July in Sicily? Poor planning, guys.

The arch at the southern end of the Via was built so that the nuns living in a cloister could travel to church without having to go outside. In earthquake-prone Catania such a walkway was considered inordinately dangerous (its collapse would block the escape route of a number of streets), but it was built all the same, and the nuns still use it. In fact, they only step outside once a year, in order to offer a song to St. Agata during her festival (see my travelogue, 14th Installment, for much more detailed information).

Via Crociferi is a tiny street parallel to Via Etnea to the west. While Piazza Duomo is the center of the city's civic power, Via Crociferi is the center of its religious power. Church is stacked upon church, all in the grand baroque style. I believe there are 9 churches within 200 yards of each other, something like that.

Although Via Crociferi is parallel, it is much higher up than Via Etnea due to the ancient lava flow it's built upon. It's accessed from the extremely steep Via San Giuliano or by stairs.

Unfortunately it is rare to find one of the churches open to the public. I don't know why.

Connecting the Via to the streets below is a wide staircase that is lined with pubs. This is "Nevsky", so-called after the pub of the same name which attracts the most socialist oriented crowd in town. This is one of THE night spots in Catania, by the way, and Via Crociferi at night, isolated above the crowd, is where most of the zone's drug deals go down.

This mixture of the sacred and the profane has always fascinated me.

This is a piazza a bit to the west of Piazza Duomo that is surrounded by interesting things. The statue in the center is of the Cardinal Dusmet, whose body is on display in the Duomo.

Nearby: on the west side of the Piazza is Bellini's House and Museum, on the right the Immacolata Church that houses the candelora of St. Agata, to the north through an arch is Via Crociferi and its many baroque churches.