Catania: Touristic information

Catania
Touristic information about the city, the provinces and localities

Catania
Catania: Culture
Localities in the province

Catania

Catania is the second-largest city of Sicily, southern Italy, and is the capital of the province which bears its name.
With some 306,000 inhabitants (750,000 in the metropolitan area) it has the second highest population density on the island. The city's patron saint is Saint Agatha. Catania is located on the east coast of the island, half way between Messina and Siracusa and is at the foot of the active volcano Mount Etna.
It was founded in the 8th century BC by Greek colonizers from Chalcis in Euboea led by Euarchos. Initially called ??t?? (Aítne or Ætna), after the volcano, the city was later known as ?at??? (Katáne—see also List of traditional Greek place names). It was extensively destroyed by earthquakes in 1169 and 1693 and by lava flows which ran over and around it into the sea. The first Sicilian university was founded there in 1434.

Catania: Culture

The opera composer Vincenzo Bellini was born in Catania, and a museum exists at his birthplace. The Teatro Massimo Bellini, which opened in 1890, is named after the composer. The opera house presents a variety of operas through a season, which run from December to May, many of which are the work of Bellini.
In the late 1980s and 1990s Catania had a unique popular music scene with local radio stations. As a result of these idiosyncratic and regional radio stations Catania boasted a youth culture in which indie pop and indie rock from lesser known international bands like. As a result of the eclectic taste in indie pop and indie rock Catania has been the birthplace of a number of dynamic and unusual independent music record labels.
The city is the home of Amatori Catania rugby union team, and Calcio Catania football team.

Same informations in this page for Catania are based on the site www.wikipedia.org respecting the GNU Free Documentation License.

Catania: other to visit

Etnaland
Parco dell'Etna
Val di Noto