Catania

Description

Catania is an Italian city on the east coast of Sicily facing the Ionian Sea, between Messina and Syracuse. It is the capital of the Province of Catania, and is the second-largest city in Sicily and the tenth in Italy. Catania has had a long and eventful history, having been founded in the 8th century BC. Then in the 14th century and into the Renaissance period, Catania was one of Italy`s most important and flourishing cultural, artistic, and political centers. The symbol of the city is u Liotru, or the Fontana dell`Elefante, assembled in 1736 by Giovanni Battista Vaccarini. It portrays an ancient lavic stone elephant and is topped by an Egyptian obelisk from Syene. The city has been buried by lava a total of seventeen 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 seisms. Currently, different ancient remains can be seen and visited in the city-centre, as part of an archaeological park.