Catania lives with Etna in full view, and the volcano has shaped the city in every sense. Its streets are paved and its churches built with dark lava stone, and most of what you see went up after a single earthquake in 1693. The result is a Baroque city in black and white, loud, lively and very Sicilian. Here are the facts and stories that make the city special.
10 fun facts about Catania
- An ancient Greek city: colonists from nearby Naxos founded Katane around 729 BC, making Catania one of the oldest Greek cities in Sicily.
- Rebuilt in one go: the earthquake of 1693 destroyed most of Catania. The city was rebuilt in late Baroque style with wide, straight streets, and in 2002 it became part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site of the Late Baroque Towns of the Val di Noto.
- Black and white: many buildings combine dark lava stone with pale limestone, which gives the centre its two-tone look.
- Europe's highest active volcano: Etna, a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2013, is the tallest active volcano in Europe. Its height changes with its eruptions but stays at around 3,300 metres.
- The lava that reached the sea: in 1669 a huge eruption sent lava over the city walls and into the sea. Castello Ursino, built for Emperor Frederick II in the 13th century, once stood on the shore; the lava left it well inland.
- An arena under the street: in Piazza Stesicoro you look down into part of a Roman amphitheatre from the 2nd century AD that held around 15,000 spectators. Only about a tenth of it is visible; the rest lies under the surrounding streets.
- Two more ancient stages: off Via Vittorio Emanuele, a Roman theatre and a smaller odeon sit side by side, hemmed in by later houses that were built right on top of them.
- Bellini's city: the composer Vincenzo Bellini was born in Catania in 1801. The opera house named after him, the Teatro Massimo Bellini, opened in 1890 with his opera Norma.
- Sicily's oldest university: the University of Catania was founded in 1434, under King Alfonso V of Aragon.
- A street aimed at a volcano: Via Etnea runs straight for about three kilometres north from Piazza Duomo, and on clear days you can see Etna rising at the far end.
U Liotru, the elephant of Catania
The symbol of Catania is a small elephant carved from black lava stone, standing in the middle of Piazza Duomo with an Egyptian-style obelisk on its back. Nobody knows exactly when or by whom the elephant was made. In the 1730s the architect Giovanni Battista Vaccarini put it on a white marble base as the centrepiece of the Fontana dell'Elefante. Locals call it u Liotru, and legend links the name to Heliodorus, or Liodoru, an 8th-century nobleman who failed to become bishop and turned to sorcery. The story says he rode the elephant all the way to Constantinople, until Bishop Leo had him burned at the stake.
The festival of Saint Agatha, explained
Agatha was a young Christian woman from Catania who, according to tradition, was martyred in the 3rd century for refusing a Roman governor. Every year from 3 to 5 February the city honours her with one of the biggest religious festivals in Italy. Thousands of devotees in white tunics pull her silver reliquary through the streets on long ropes, day and night, while the guilds carry huge carved wooden candelore. Catanians also credit the saint with protecting the city from Etna: legend says that her veil, carried towards the lava, stopped it in its tracks.
What to eat in Catania
- Arancino: a fried rice ball, here pointed like a small volcano. In Catania it is arancino; in Palermo it is round and called arancina.
- Pasta alla Norma: pasta with tomato, fried aubergine, salted ricotta and basil, named after Bellini's opera.
- Granita con brioche: a soft granita of almond, pistachio, lemon or coffee, eaten with a warm brioche. In summer it is breakfast.
- Minne di Sant'Agata: small domed cakes filled with ricotta and topped with a cherry, made for the saint's festival but sold all year.
- Pistachio from Bronte: the town on Etna's western slopes grows bright green pistachios with EU protected status. Look for them in pastries, pesto and gelato.
Good to know before you go
- For Etna, go with a licensed guide if you want to get near the summit craters. Bring warm clothes even in summer: it is much colder at the top.
- The fish market, A Piscaria, just off Piazza Duomo, is liveliest in the morning, when the sellers shout their prices over the stalls.
- Taormina, with its Greek theatre above the sea, is about an hour away by train or bus.
- Syracuse and its old island of Ortigia make an easy day trip south by train.
Explore Catania with World City Trail
Our Catania scavenger hunt turns these sights into a game you play on your phone. The route links 10 stops and takes around two hours, with about 34 minutes of walking, past places including Via Etnea, Piazza Stesicoro and its Roman Amphitheatre.
At each stop you solve a puzzle and hear a short story, at your own pace. You can start whenever you like and play in English, German, French, Italian, Spanish or Dutch.
Play the Catania scavenger hunt →
Facts checked in October 2026.