Information AboutCatania |
's principal façade (1736) is an example of the city's Sicilian Baroque architecture.]] Catania (, 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, halfway between Messina and Siracusa and is at the foot of the active volcano Mount Etna . HISTORY Foundation All ancient authors agree in representing Catania as a Greek colony named (''Katánē''—see also List Of Traditional Greek Place Names ) of Chalcidic origin, but founded immediately from the neighboring city of Naxos , under the guidance of a leader named Euarchos (Euarchus). The exact date of its foundation is not recorded, but it appears from Thucydides to have followed shortly after that of Leontini (modern Lentini ), which he places in the fifth year after Syracuse , or 730 BC E. (Thuc. vi. 3; Strabo vi. p. 268; Scymn. Ch. 286; Scyl. § 13; Steph. B. ''s. v.'') Greek Sicily The only event of its early history which has been transmitted to us is the legislation of Charondas , and even of this the date is wholly uncertain. But from the fact that his legislation was extended to the other Chalcidic cities, not only of Sicily, but of Magna Graecia also, as well as to his own country ( Arist. , ''Pol.'' ii. 9), it is evident that Catania continued in intimate relations with these kindred cities. It seems to have retained its independence till the time of Hieron Of Syracuse , but that despot, in 476 BC E, expelled all the original inhabitants, whom he established at Leontini, while he repeopled the city with a new body of colonists, amounting, it is said, to not less than 10,000 in number, and consisting partly of Syracusans, partly of Peloponnesia ns. He at the same time changed its name to (''Aítnē'', Aetna or Ætna, after the nearby volcano), and caused himself to be proclaimed the Oekist or founder of the new city. As such he was celebrated by Pindar , and after his death obtained heroic honors from the citizens of his new colony. ( Diod. xi. 49, in 66; Strab. l.c.; Pind. ''Pyth.'' i., and Schol. ''ad loc.'') But this state of things was of brief duration, and a few years after the death of Hieron and the expulsion of Thrasybulus , the Syracusans combined with Ducetius , king of the Siculi , to expel the newly settled inhabitants of Catania, who were compelled to retire to the fortress of Inessa (to which they gave the name of Aetna), while the old Chalcidic citizens were reinstated in the possession of Catania, 461 BC E. (Diod. xi. 76; Strab. ''l. c.'') The period which followed the settlement of affairs at this epoch appears to have been one of great prosperity for Catania, as well as for the Sicilian cities in general: but we have no details of its history till the great E, when it fell into the power of Dionysius I Of Syracuse , who sold the inhabitants as slaves, and gave up the city to plunder; after which he established there a body of Campania n mercenaries. These, however, quitted it again in 396 BC E, and retired to Aetna , on the approach of the great Carthaginian armament under Himilco and Mago . The great sea-fight in which the latter defeated Leptines , the brother of Dionysius, was fought immediately off Catania, and the city apparently fell, in consequence, into the hands of the Carthaginians. (Diod. xiv. 15, 58, 60.) But we have no account of its subsequent fortunes, nor does it appear who constituted its new population; it is only certain that it continued to exist. Callippus , the assassin of Dion , when he was expelled from Syracuse, for a time held possession of Catania (Plut. ''Dion.'' 58); and when Timoleon landed in Sicily we find it subject to a despot named Mamercus , who at first joined the Corinth ian leader but afterwards abandoned his alliance for that of the Carthaginians, and was in consequence attacked and expelled by Timoleon. (Diod. xvi. 69; Plut. ''Timol.'' 13, 30-34.) Catania was now restored to liberty, and appears to have continued to retain its independence; during the wars of Agathocles with the Carthaginians, it sided at one time with the former, at others with the latter; and when Pyrrhus landed in Sicily, Catania was the first to open its gates to him, and received him with the greatest magnificence. (Diod. xix. 110, xxii. 8, Exc. Hoesch. p. 496.) Roman rule In the First Punic War , Catania was one of the first among the cities of Sicily, which made their submission to the Romans , after the first successes of their arms in 263 BC E. (Eutrop. ii. 19.) The expression of Pliny (vii. 60) who represents it as having been taken by Valerius Messala , is certainly a mistake. It appears to have continued afterwards steadily to maintain its friendly relations with Rome, and though it did not enjoy the advantages of a confederate city (''foederata civitas''), like its neighbors Tauromenium (modern Taormina ) and Messana (modern Messina ), it rose to a position of great prosperity under the Roman rule. Cicero repeatedly mentions it as, in his time, a wealthy and flourishing city; it retained its ancient municipal institutions, its chief magistrate bearing the title of ''Proagorus''; and appears to have been one of the principal ports of Sicily for the export of corn. (Cic. ''Verr.'' iii. 4. 3, 83, iv. 23, 45; Liv. xxvii. 8.) It subsequently suffered severely from the ravages of Sextus Pompeius , and was in consequence one of the cities to which a Colony was sent by Augustus ; a measure that appears to have in a great degree restored its prosperity, so that in Strabo's time it was one of the few cities in the island that was in a flourishing condition. (Strab. vi. pp. 268, 270, 272; Dion Cass. iv. 7.) It retained its colonial rank, as well as its prosperity, throughout the period of the Roman Empire ; so that in the Fourth Century Ausonius in his '' Ordo Nobilium Urbium '', notices Catania and Syracuse alone among the cities of Sicily. (Plin. iii. 8. s. 14; Ptol. iii. 4. § 9; Itin. Ant. pp. 87,90, 93, 94). After the fall of the Roman Empire In 535 , Catania was recovered by Belisarius from the Goths , and became again, under the rule of the Byzantine Empire , one of the most important cities of the island. ( Procop. ''B. G.'' i. 5.). It was extensively destroyed by Earthquake s 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 . Locational significance The position of Catania at the foot of Mount Etna was the source, as Strabo remarks, both of benefits and evils to the city. For on the one hand, the violent outbursts of the volcano from time to time desolated great parts of its territory; on the other, the volcanic ashes produced a soil of great fertility, adapted especially for the growth of vines. (Strab. vi. p. 269.) One of the most serious calamities of the former class was the eruption of 121 BC E, when great part of its territory was overwhelmed by streams of lava, and the hot ashes fell in such quantities in the city itself, as to break in the roofs of the houses. Catania was in consequence exempted, for 10 years, from its usual contributions to the Roman state. (Oros. v. 13.) The greater part of the broad tract of plain to the southwest of Catania (now called the Piano di Catania, a district of great fertility), appears to have belonged, in ancient times, to Leontini or Centuripa (modern Centuripe ), but that portion of it between Catana itself and the mouth of the Symaethus, was annexed to the territory of the latter city, and must have furnished abundant supplies of corn. The port of Catania also, which was in great part filled up by the eruption of 1669 , appears to have been in ancient times much frequented, and was the chief place of export for the corn of the rich neighboring plains. The little river Amenanus, or Amenas, which flowed through the city, was a very small stream, and could never have been navigable. Catania's renown in antiquity Catania was the birth-place of the philosopher and legislator Charondas; it was also the place of residence of the poet Stesichorus , who died there, and was buried in a magnificent sepulchre outside one of the gates, which derived from thence the name of ''Porta Stesichoreia''. ( Suda , under .) Xenophanes , the philosopher of Elea , also spent the latter years of his life there (Diog. Laert. ix. 2. § 1), so that it was evidently, at an early period, a place of cultivation and refinement. The first introduction of dancing to accompany the flute, was also ascribed to Andron , a citizen of Catania (Athen. i. p. 22, c.); and the first sundial that was set up in the Roman forum was carried thither by Valerius Messala from Catania, 263 BC E. (Varr. ''ap. Plin.'' vii. 60.) But few associations connected with Catania were more celebrated in ancient times than the legend of the Pii Fratres, Amphinomus and Anapias , who, on occasion of a great eruption of Etna, abandoned all their property, and carried off their aged parents on their shoulders, the stream of lava itself was said to have parted, and flowed aside so as not to harm them. Statues were erected to their honor, and the place of their burial was known as the ''Campus Piorum''; the Catanaeans even introduced the figures of the youths on their coins, and the legend became a favorite subject of allusion and declamation among the Latin poets, of whom the younger Lucilius and Claudian have dwelt upon it at considerable length. The occurrence is referred by Hyginus to the first eruption of Etna that took place after the settlement of Catania. (Strab. vi. p. 269; Paus. x. 28. § 4; Conon, ''Narr.'' 43; Philostr. ''Vit. Apoll.'' v. 17; Solin. 5. § 15; Hygin. 254; Val. Max. v. 4. Ext. § 4; Lucil. ''Aetn.'' 602-40; Claudian. ''Idyll.'' 7; Sil. Ital. xiv. 196; Auson. ''Ordo Nob. Urb.'' 11.) MAIN SIGHTS Roman age The symbol of the city is ''u Liotru'', or the ''Fontana dell'Elefante'' and was constructed in 1736 by Giovanni Battista Vaccarini . It is a manufact in lava stone portraying an elephant and surmounted by an obelisk. Legend has it that Vaccarini's original elephant was neuter, which the men of Catania took as an insult to their virility. To appease them, Vaccarini appended appropriately elephantine testicles to the original statue. The Sicilian name ''u Liotru'' is perhaps a deformation of Heliodorus . A similar sculpture is in Piazza Santa Maria Della Minerva in Rome . 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. Many of the ancient monuments of the Roman city have been destroyed by the numerous earthquakes. Currently, remains of the following buildings can be seen:
Roman thermal structures:
Baroque and historical churches
Palaces
Liberty style mansions
Viale Regina Margherita's Manors:
Urban parks
Others
The subterranean rivers Under the city run the river Amenano, visible in just one point, south of Piazza Duomo and the river Longane or Lognina. 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 Opera s 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. TRANSPORTATION Catania has a commercial seaport ('' Catania 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. It attains 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. DEMOGRAPHIC EVOLUTION Colors= id:lightgrey value:gray(0.9) id:darkgrey value:gray(0.7) id:sfondo value:rgb(1,1,1) id:barra value:rgb(0.6,0.7,0.8) ImageSize = width:455 height:373 PlotArea = left:50 bottom:50 top:30 right:30 DateFormat = x.y Period = from:0 till:450000 TimeAxis = orientation:vertical AlignBars = justify ScaleMajor = gridcolor:darkgrey increment:50000 start:0 ScaleMinor = gridcolor:lightgrey increment:10000 start:0 BackgroundColors = canvas:sfondo BarData= bar:1861 text:1861 bar:1871 text:1871 bar:1881 text:1881 bar:1901 text:1901 bar:1911 text:1911 bar:1921 text:1921 bar:1931 text:1931 bar:1936 text:1936 bar:1951 text:1951 bar:1961 text:1961 bar:1971 text:1971 bar:1981 text:1981 bar:1991 text:1991 bar:2001 text:2001 PlotData= color:barra width:20 align:left bar:1861 from:0 till: 70608 bar:1871 from:0 till: 83680 bar:1881 from:0 till: 101135 bar:1901 from:0 till: 147700 bar:1911 from:0 till: 207848 bar:1921 from:0 till: 252840 bar:1931 from:0 till: 225169 bar:1936 from:0 till: 244972 bar:1951 from:0 till: 299629 bar:1961 from:0 till: 363928 bar:1971 from:0 till: 400048 bar:1981 from:0 till: 380328 bar:1991 from:0 till: 333075 bar:2001 from:0 till: 313110 PlotData= bar:1861 at: 70608 fontsize:S text: 70.608 shift:(-8,5) bar:1871 at: 83680 fontsize:S text: 83.680 shift:(-10,5) bar:1881 at: 101135 fontsize:S text: 101.135 shift:(-10,5) bar:1901 at: 147700 fontsize:S text: 147.700 shift:(-10,5) bar:1911 at: 207848 fontsize:S text: 207.848 shift:(-10,5) bar:1921 at: 252840 fontsize:S text: 252.840 shift:(-10,5) bar:1931 at: 225169 fontsize:S text: 225.169 shift:(-10,5) bar:1936 at: 244972 fontsize:S text: 244.972 shift:(-10,5) bar:1951 at: 299629 fontsize:S text: 299.629 shift:(-10,5) bar:1961 at: 363928 fontsize:S text: 363.928 shift:(-10,5) bar:1971 at: 400048 fontsize:S text: 400.048 shift:(-10,5) bar:1981 at: 380328 fontsize:S text: 380.328 shift:(-10,5) bar:1991 at: 333075 fontsize:S text: 333.075 shift:(-10,5) bar:2001 at: 313110 fontsize:S text: 313.110 shift:(-10,5) TextData= fontsize:S pos:(20,20) text:Data from ISTAT SISTER CITIES REFERENCES This article incorporates some information taken from http://www.hostkingdom.net/ with permission. Other material is translated from the Italian wikipedia site. NOTES EXTERNAL LINKS
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