Free tour - A historical walk through Catania
Hello! My name is Laura, although everyone knows me as Lola. I have been an official guide for more than 10 years. I love my land, its history and its culture and I am delighted to share it with all those who come to visit it, to ensure that they take away a beautiful memory.
Pickup
I'll wait in front of the Sant'Agata cathedral, with my red official guide badge hanging around my neck.
Description
Welcome to Catania!
In this tour we will talk about this beautiful city, from its late Baroque appearance to the origins of its Greco-Roman era in a walk that shows its urban transformation after earthquakes and lava flows that have seen it destroyed and rebuilt many times.
Catania was an extraordinary trading and port city, but also a religious center and, finally, an important industrial site.
Starting from the beating heart of the late baroque city, we will visit the Piazza del Duomo dominated by the cathedral dedicated to Santa Agata , the elephant placed in the center of the square, considered the symbol of this city and the town hall .
We will pass through the old walls and the fish market (only in the morning) and the places of the old port .
From the walls you advance through the streets of the market to find the thermal complexes of the time , thermal baths of the Roman direction to the Ursino Castle, a military defense castle from the Federal period that once overlooked the sea and now, after a lava flow from 1669, is located inside the city.
The history of the neighborhood is very interesting because it tells us about a time when Arabs, Jews and Christians lived together in the fortified area of the port . Change neighborhoods and continue towards Piazza Mazzini to reach via Crociferi . This is the street where the most beautiful late baroque churches in the city are located:
- Saint Francesco
- San Benedetto and convent
- Saint Francesco Borgia
- San Giuliano
- Saint Camillo.
We will then continue along the staircase that leads to the main street, Via Etna and we will arrive at the university square where we will find the seat of one of the oldest universities in southern Italy , and 4 splendid pillars from the 1950s that narrate like many Sicilian legends.
All this and much more in a tour that you cannot miss, to take home a complete memory of Catania.