Catania

Industrial port in Sicily on the Gulf of Catania, just south of Mount Etna; population (2001) 313,100. It is the capital of the province of Catania. It exports local sulphur; there are also shipbuilding, textile, and light industries.

Features To the south of the city lies the desolate plain crossed by the Simeto River, but to the north are the intensively cultivated lower slopes of Mount Etna. There is a large trade in agricultural produce, such as wine, cotton, vegetables, and fruit from the plain beyond.

Catania has an archiepiscopal cathedral (11th–18th centuries) with a baroque facade, a fort (begun 1237) which is now a museum, and a university (1434). The monastery of San Nicolo has the largest church (17th–18th centuries) in Sicily.

History Catania was founded by Greek colonists in 729 BC, became subject to Rome in 263 BC, was made a colony in the reign of Augustus, and was occupied successively by the Goths, Vandal, and Saracens. It has been severely damaged by volcanic eruptions and earthquakes on eight occasions; in the eruption of 1669 and earthquake of 1693 it was almost completely destroyed. It was rebuilt (by Giovanni Battista Vaccarini; 1702–68) on a rectilinear plan and in the baroque style it retains today. The composer Vicenzo Bellini was born here in 1801.

During World War II it was the scene of heavy fighting in the Allied invasion of Sicily in 1943, Catania being a key point in the ‘Etna line’ which was subjected to bombardment and air attack.

Catania

Province of Italy in eastern Sicily; capital Catania; area 3,552 sq km/1,371 sq mi; population (2000 est) 1,100,200.