Catania

Of uncertain etymology, one of which (Greek prefix katà - named after the Greek volcano Aitnè, leaning against Etna) captures its peculiar position, Catania rises on the slopes of the highest active volcano in Europe. Its history, like that of the entire island, is a succession of dominations that want it as capital of the Kingdom of Trinacria under the Aragonese one of the XIII - XV century. Unlike the city of Palermo, in which the architectural and artistic peculiarities of the different dominations are mixed together, in the city of Catania you breathe primarily the Baroque, as it was affected by two catastrophic events (the eruption of Mount Etna 1669 and the earthquake of the Val di Noto of 1693) which required almost total reconstruction. One of the few places that retains its original shape is Castello Ursino, from the Swabian period. The use of lava stone for the construction of buildings, then, gives the city of Catania a peculiar aspect. After the annexation of Sicily to the Italian kingdom, Catania underwent a process of transformation and modernization that gave it part of its current connotation, with the expansion of infrastructures and roads and the construction of art nouveau villas and the promenade. Catania is a lively city, under different profiles, which has allowed it to experience a profitable industrial, economic and cultural development since the second post-war period and to specialize in two particular productive sectors: the electronic one (with the consequent creation of Etna Valley on the model). most famous of Silicon) and the chemical-pharmaceutical one. With a population of more than 300,000 inhabitants and home to one of the main Sicilian universities, Catania also offers an intense nightlife, all along the historic center and neighboring areas, with places that in summer become so-called "concert cafés".