Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Chiesa di San Benedetto
(Via Crociferi; 7am-noon & 3.30-6pm Thu, 10am-noon Sun)
Inside this church, built between 1704
and 1713, is some splendid stucco and marble work, as well as a rather graphic fresco of a
woman being tortured in front of a curious sultan.
CHURCH
Chiesa di San Giuliano
(Via Crociferi)
This church, about halfway up Via Crociferi on the right-hand side, is famous
for its convex facade designed by Vaccarini between 1738 and 1751.
CHURCH
Chiesa di San Nicolò all'Arena
CHURCH
(Via Gesuiti; 9am-1pm)
Sicily's largest church is the monumentally ugly Chiesa di San
Nicolò all'Arena. The church was commissioned in 1687 but building was interrupted by
the earthquake of 1693 and then by problems with its size - it measures 105m long, 48m
wide and 62m high - and it was never actually finished.
Much more impressive than the church is the adjoining
Monastero di San Nicolò all'Arena
OFFLINE MAP
GOOGLE MAP
, Europe's second-largest monastery. Built in 1703 and now part
of the city university, it boasts a grand internal cloister and one of Sicily's most important
libraries. You can't actually enter the cloisters but you see them from the surrounding cor-
ridors.
Roman Ruins
Little remains of the prosperous Roman city that Catania once was, but you can walk
Piazza Stesicoro; admission free; 9am-1.30pm & 2.30-6pm)
. It doesn't look like much today, but in
its 2nd-century-BC heyday it was vast, extending as far south as Via Penninello and seat-
ing up to 16,000 spectators.
Go down to the vaults and you'll get an inkling of just how complex a structure it must
have been.
There are more theatrical ruins on Via Vittorio Emanuele II, where you can visit the
ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITE
