is the second largest city of
Sicily and is the capital of the province which bears its name. With 306,000 inhabitants it has the second highest population density on the island.
It is located at 37° 31'N 15° 04'E 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 Ætna, after the volcano, the city was later known as (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 .
The city's patronal saint is
Saint Agata .
The city has been buried by lava a total of seven times in recorded history, and in layers under the present day city are the
Roman city that preceded it, and the Greek city before that. Today, the tops of the immense Greek and
Roman amphitheatres are at street level and in several places the adventurous can descend into the numerous and uncharted tunnels under the city, although the perils of finding pockets of poisonous gas or being found down there by nasty people make this highly unadvisable.
's principal façade of 1736, is an example of the city's
Sicilian Baroque ]]Under the city runs the river Amenano, visible in just one point, on the south side of Piazza Duomo.
It has a commercial seaport in the city, an international airport (''Catania Fontanarossa'') to the South, a central train station (''Catania Centrale'') on the main lines
Messina -
Syracuse , Catania-
Gela and Catania-
Palermo , as well as the privately-owned small-gauge ''
Circumetnea '' railway which runs for 110 km from Catania round the base of Mount Etna, attaining the height of 976 m above sea level before descending to rejoin the coast at
Giarre -
Riposto to the North. In the late 1990s/early 2000s the
First Line of an underground railway was built, but never completed, under the city, extending the ''Circumetnea'' from its stop on the north side of town to the Central Railway Station on the southeast.
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.
It is the home of
Amatori Catania rugby union team, and
Calcio Catania football team.
This article incorporates some information taken from
http://www.hostkingdom.net/ with permission. Other material is translated from the Italian wikipedia site.
