Must see attractions in Catania

Completed in 1890 and made for homegrown composer Vincenzo Bellini, Catania's opera house is suitably lavish, from the stucco-and-marble extravagance of…

Catania's raucous fish market, which takes over the streets behind Piazza del Duomo every workday morning, is pure street theatre. Tables groan under the…

The Monastero delle Benedettine covers two adjacent sites: a Benedictine convent and the Chiesa di San Benedetto. Top billing goes to the church, built…

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…

This is one of Europe's largest monasteries and an example of the wealth enjoyed by the Benedictine order. Built in 1703 and now part of the city…

Taking centre stage on Catania's showpiece Piazze del Duomo is the city's most memorable monument, the smiling Fontana dell'Elefante (Fountain of the…

It's not difficult to see how Catania's main shopping street got its name – on a clear day you can see Mt Etna rising majestically at the end of it. Via…

Inside the vaulted interior of this cathedral, beyond its impressive marble facade sporting two orders of columns taken from the Roman amphitheatre, lie…

Attributed to Sicilian baroque maestro Vaccarini and built between 1739 and 1751, the Chiesa di San Giuliano features an elegant convex facade and, above…

Housed in the brooding 13th-century Castello Ursino, Catania's civic museum holds the valuable Biscari archaeological collection, an extensive collection…

West of Piazza del Duomo lie Catania's most impressive ancient ruins: the remains of a 2nd-century Roman Theatre and its small rehearsal theatre, the…

The most obvious reason to visit this museum, adjacent to Catania's duomo, is to see the Fercolo, the famous silver reliquary bust of Saint Agata that's…

With an elegant concave-convex facade reminiscent of Borromini, this 18th-century church was designed by Palermitan architect Giovanni Battista Vaccarini…

Catania's forbidding 13th-century castle once guarded the city from atop a seafront cliff. However, the 1669 eruption of Mt Etna changed the landscape and…

A lovely, tranquil spot for a morning stroll, Via Crociferi is one of Catania's most attractive streets, famous for its exuberant baroque churches and…

The most interesting museum at Le Ciminiere museum complex, Museo Storico dello Sbarco in Sicilia sheds light on the WWII Allied landings in Sicily…

Old and new conspire at MACS, a compact, contemporary-art museum inside an 18th-century abbey of the Monastery of St Benedict. Occupying two floors, the…

One of Italy's great opera composers, Vincenzo Bellini was born in Catania in 1801. The house he grew up in has since been converted into this museum,…

Le Ciminiere is a modern museum complex housed in a converted sulphur refinery. The most interesting of its museums is the Museo Storico dello Sbarco in…

The Museo Emilio Greco hosts a large collection of sketches by renowned Italian artist Emilio Greco (1913–1995), whose work is marked by a sensual, erotic…