Sfincione soft focaccia with tomato, onion, anchovies and caciocavallo
Tall, soft bread dough, tomato, onion, anchovies, oregano and caciocavallo: sfincione is Palermo's focaccia, cut into squares.
Read more →
© Unknown authorUnknown author · Public domainedited by BigItalia · Request removal
Mount Etna decides everything here. The volcano is a UNESCO World Heritage site, and the land around it has long been read as separate districts: Acireale and its coast to the east, the Calatino uplands around Caltagirone to the south, the western slopes above Paternò. The capital is Catania, facing the Ionian Sea, and the 58 municipalities climb from the shore to the villages on the volcano before dropping inland along the Simeto valley.
Catania's old centre is one of three towns here, with Caltagirone and Militello in Val di Catania, listed by UNESCO in 2002 among the late Baroque towns of the Val di Noto. The Ursino castle, a Roman theatre and amphitheatre and the Badia di Sant'Agata sit within a few blocks of each other, and every February the city stops for its patron saint. Beyond it, Nicolosi is the way up Etna.
Towns in the province of Catania
Map and list are connected: hover one to light up the other, click to enter.
58 towns
Aci Bonaccorsi Aci Castello Aci Catena Aci Sant'Antonio Acireale Adrano Belpasso Biancavilla Bronte Calatabiano Caltagirone Camporotondo Etneo Castel di Iudica Castiglione di Sicilia Catania Capital Fiumefreddo di Sicilia Giarre Grammichele Gravina di Catania Licodia Eubea Linguaglossa Maletto Maniace Mascali Mascalucia Mazzarrone Militello in Val di Catania Milo Mineo Mirabella Imbaccari Misterbianco Motta Sant'Anastasia Nicolosi Palagonia Paternò Pedara Piedimonte Etneo Raddusa Ragalna Ramacca Randazzo Riposto San Cono San Giovanni la Punta San Gregorio di Catania San Michele di Ganzaria San Pietro Clarenza Sant'Agata li Battiati Sant'Alfio Santa Maria di Licodia Santa Venerina Scordia Trecastagni Tremestieri Etneo Valverde Viagrande Vizzini Zafferana Etnea
The best of Province of Catania
The top 20 places in Catania
Our editors' ranking: the area's most important places, drawn from the individual town guides. See the national rankings →
1 🌋 Nature & views Mount Etna – Southern Slope 📍 Nicolosi Silvestri craters, cable car and Monti Rossi: Etna as climbed from Nicolosi. 
2 🏛️ Squares & old towns Piazza del Duomo e Fontana dell'Elefante 📍 Catania The core of Catania, known for its lava stone elephant and the 4th-century Roman baths hidden 5 meters below. 
3 ⛪ Churches & sanctuaries Monastero dei Benedettini 📍 Catania Europe's second-largest Benedictine monastery, this UNESCO-listed complex is a triumph of Sicilian late-baroque design. - 4 castello Ursino Catania · 🏰 Castles & palaces
- 5 basilica Maria Santissima dell'Elemosina Catania · ⛪ Churches & sanctuaries
- 6 Palazzo Biscari Catania · 🏰 Castles & palaces
- 7 Teatro romano di Catania Catania · 🖼️ Museums
- 8 chiesa della Badia di Sant'Agata Catania · ⛪ Churches & sanctuaries
- 9 Teatro Massimo Vincenzo Bellini Catania · 🖼️ Museums
- 10 Palazzo degli Elefanti Catania · 🏰 Castles & palaces
- 11 chiesa di San Placido Catania · ⛪ Churches & sanctuaries
- 12 chiesa di San Francesco Borgia Catania · ⛪ Churches & sanctuaries
- 13 Anfiteatro romano di Catania Catania · 🖼️ Museums
- 14 chiesa di San Benedetto Catania · ⛪ Churches & sanctuaries
- 15 Fortezza del Tocco Acireale · 🏰 Castles & palaces
- 16 basilica santuario di Maria Santissima Annunziata al Carmine Catania · ⛪ Churches & sanctuaries
- 17 chiesa di Santa Maria di Gesù Catania · ⛪ Churches & sanctuaries
- 18 chiesa di San Michele Arcangelo ai Minoriti Catania · ⛪ Churches & sanctuaries
- 19 chiesa della Santissima Trinità Catania · ⛪ Churches & sanctuaries
- 20 chiesa di San Domenico Catania · ⛪ Churches & sanctuaries
Catania and around, on the map
Straight-line distances from the town centre. Tap a point to open its page.
🍝 At the table: Sicily
Arancina fried rice ball stuffed with meat ragù
Saffron rice, ragù with peas and caciocavallo cheese inside a golden crust. Round and feminine in Palermo, pointed and called arancino in Catania: the quarrel is serious.
Read more →
Arancino fried rice cone stuffed with ragù, pointed like Etna
Saffron rice, ragù with peas and caciocavallo inside a golden cone-shaped crust: in Catania it is masculine and pointed, and the quarrel with Palermo over the name is serious.
Read more →Tours, tickets and experiences
Bookable on GetYourGuideProvince of Catania
Upcoming events in Catania
No events match these filters.
Saint Leonard, the patron who saved Mascali from the earthquake but not from the lava
📅 Every year, on 6 November
Mascali celebrates Saint Leonard of Noblac on 6 November; in 1693 the townspeople almost all survived the Val di Noto earthquake because they were in procession with his relics, but on that very date in 1928 Etna's lava buried the town.
Saint Catherine, patron of the town at the foot of Etna
📅 Every year, on 25 November
San Pietro Clarenza celebrates Saint Catherine on 25 November, in the church dedicated to her.
Saint Andrew, patron in a village where an Aragonese duke brought Sicily's summer court
📅 Every year, on 30 November
Milo celebrates Saint Andrew on 30 November, in the mother church built with Etna lava stone; it was Duke Giovanni d'Aragona who wanted it, around 1340, briefly making Milo Sicily's summer political centre.
Saint Barbara and the cerei of Paternò
📅 Every year, on 4 December
On 4 December Paternò celebrates Saint Barbara: the cerei, called varette here, parade before the float, and the procession stops at the church that once bore her name.