Catania

Catania is situated on the eastern coast of  Sicily at the foot of Etna and between Messina and Syracuse. Just like few towns in Italy, Catania has very different landscapes concentrated in only one site.

Its territory includes Catania plain (“ ‘a chiana” in the Sicilian dialect), one of the largest cultivated areas of Sicily; the zone near the sea is the Simeto oasis, a regional reserve instituted in 1984.

The original nucleus of the town was situated on a hill where nowadays  Piazza Dante and the ex Benedictine monastery are located.

Catania was founded in 729 b.C. by the Greeks of Chalcis and has a millenary history characterized by several dominations whose rests enrich the artistic, architectural and cultural heritage. Baroque style of his old town has been declared a World Heritage  Site.