Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Catania's sights are concentrated within a few blocks of Piazza del Duomo.
Piazza del Duomo
A Unesco World Heritage Site, Catania's central square revolves around its grand cathed-
ral, fringed with baroque buildings constructed in the unique local style of contrasting
man period and surmounted by an improbable Egyptian obelisk.
marks the entrance to Catania's fish market and commemorates the Amenano River,
which once ran above ground and on whose banks the Greeks first founded the city of
Katáne.
SQUARE
Cattedrale di Sant'Agata
MAP
CATHEDRAL
GOOGLE MAP
( 095 32 00 44; Piazza del Duomo; 8am-noon & 4-7pm)
Sporting an impressive marble facade
with columns from Catania's Roman amphitheatre, this cathedral honours the city's pat-
ron, St Agata. The young virgin, whose remains lie sheltered in the cool, vaulted interior,
famously resisted the advances of the nefarious Quintian (AD 250) and was horribly mu-
tilated. Her jewel-drenched effigy is ecstatically venerated on 5 February in one of Sicily's
largest festivals.
La Pescheria
(Via Pardo; 7am-2pm)
The best show in Catania is this bustling fish market, where vendors
raucously hawk their wares in Sicilian dialect, while decapitated swordfish cast sidelong
glances at you across silvery heaps of sardines on ice.
Equally colourful is the adjoining
food market
, with carcasses of meat, skinned sheep's
heads, strings of sausages, huge wheels of cheese and piles of luscious fruits and veget-
ables all rolled together in a few noisy, jam-packed alleyways.
MARKET
Graeco-Roman Theatre & Odeon
MAP
RUINS
GOOGLE MAP
(Via Vittorio Emanuele II 262; adult/reduced incl Casa Liberti €4/2; 9am-1pm & 2.30pm-1hr before sunset Tue-
Sun)
These twin theatres west of Piazza del Duomo constitute Catania's most impressive
