A brief stay in Catania, Saying Goodbye to Sicily – Exploring Eastern Sicily, Part 13

This post is the concluding post of our travels through the Eastern part of Sicily in the European spring of 2025. We had started up in Taormina ( Taormina at Dawn – Serene & Beautiful – Exploring Eastern Sicily, Part 2 ) before travelling south to Ortigia ( Morning walks around Ortigia – Exploring Eastern Sicily, Part 6 ). We had then spent 3 glorious days in the hill town of Ragusa ( Ragusa Ibla, the most charming hill town in Sicily – Exploring Eastern Sicily, Part 10 ) and were now on the last full day of the trip. It started in my favourite Ragusa where I couldn’t resist the opportunity to go out for the last sunrise and enjoy a walk through the pretty little hill town one last time before it was time to say goodbye.

I left the better half to sleep some more time and went to the Church of Santa Maria delle Scale viewpoint to enjoy the run rising behind Ragusa Ibla on what turned out to be a clear spring morning. I stood mesmerised at the church porch balcony watching the sky turn into a riot of colours as the sun slowly rose up behind the hills. I took a few photos but no camera can do justice to such a pretty sight. As the sun peeked out from behind the hill I moved up to behind the church and the underpass slightly above to get some interesting compositions framing the town at sunrise.

The sky is ablaze in a riot of colours just before sunrise at Ragusa

Couldn’t resist a selfie with the colourful sky

The sun peeks out from behind the hills at Ragusa

Moving up the stairs to frame Ragusa Ibla with the Church bell tower

Ragusa Ibla framed by the underpass on the way up to Ragusa Superiore

With the sun up I decided to start my walk through Ragusa Ibla and stopped at the Palazzo della Canceller which seemed to glow in the early morning sunlight.

‘Palazzo della Cancelleria at golden hour

I took a detour to the narrow lane with oversized churches behind the Palazzo called the Salita Commendatore as it seemed to be in perfect alignment with the rising sun and got some pretty photos.

The Salita Commendatore at dawn – perfectly aligned with the rising sun

I then reached the Piazza Republica and took photos of the Palazzo Cosentini and its pretty balconies. The lane in front of it is again narrow making it impossible to take photos of the full building even with my ultra wide, so forgive the vertigo inducing angle.

The beautiful intricate balconies of the Palazzo Cosentini

I walked past the purgatory church and through Ragusa Ibla just enjoying the solitude and the pretty little lanes for one last time. I have already described these in my earlier post so I will just let the photos do the heavy lifting this time.

The Purgatory Church at dawn

The quiet lanes of Ragusa Ibla

Yet another small church in Ragusa Ibla

My favourite photo point in Ragusa Ibla – the Via Capitano Bocchieri

More pretty balconies on Via Capitano Bocchieri

The Duomo di San Giorgio – Ragusa Ibla

A Selfie at the Duomo square in Ragusa Ibla

The Duomo Square in Ragusa Ibla from both ends

A private “elite” club building in Ragusa Ibla

The pretty lane down to the Giardino Ibleo

Outside the Ibleo Gardens where we had spent all our evenings

The Portale San Giorgio

More photos of pretty lanes and roads of Ragusa Ibla

Back at Piazza Republica after my morning walk

I returned to the B &B to find the better half ready and set to go for breakfast. I quickly packed away the camera gear as we had to leave immediately after breakfast. Our last breakfast at the B&B Terra del Sole was as sumptuous as the previous 2 and we relished it at leisure. We then said goodbye to our gracious host and went down to the Piazza Republica from where we would take the electric bus to the main bus station.

Enjoying our last delicious breakfast as the B&B Terra del Sole

The better half sneaks a photo of me waiting for the bus to the main bus station

A photo of locals going about their daily schedule in Ragusa Ibla

We then took the bus from Ragusa main bus station which took us to the City of Catania where we had landed at the airport but not seen the city itself. I’m not big on spending too much time in the bigger cities nowadays but coming to Eastern Sicily and not seeing Catania at all would have been criminal. We walked to our Hotel Centrale Europa which was a budget hotel right on the Cathedral square. Since we would be leaving early the next morning we wanted to make the most of our half day in Catania.

We reached the hotel to find out that our room wasn’t ready yet so we stowed our luggage and left to explore Catania. We started with what was right in front of us the Cathedral Square and the Cathedral itself. As compared to the quiet Ortigia and Ragusa,  the main Cathedral square at Catania was teeming with people. So we did the obvious thing and went inside the Cathedral & as expected there were only a few people inside.

The bustling Cathedral Square at Catania

As with the other towns the Catania Cathedral dedicated to Sant’Agata was built over ruins of a Roman structure which then became a Norman Cathedral fortress. As in most other towns in Sicily the quake of 1693 brought it tumbling down and it was rebuilt post that using the columns from inside to decorate the new baroque facade while the interiors were built more for structural stability, meaning thick pillars and smaller windows.

The baroque facade of the Cathedral di Sant’Agata

The post earthquake interiors of the Catania Cathedral built for more stability

Thick pillars and small windows of the Catania Cathedral

There is still baroque flair amidst the robust walls

The mishmash of architecture is evident near the altar

The organ near the entrance of the Catania Cathedral

A evocative carved tomb of a local cardinal

The relatively plain dome of the Catania Cathedral

Sections show the remains of the original Roman baths upon which the Cathedral was built

We then did our church routine of sitting in the pews for a few minutes enjoying the relative calm inside the Cathedral before stepping back into the sun and the bustling square outside.

Enjoying the relative calm inside the Catania Cathedral

In the Cathedral square is a fountain with an Elephant made of Lava stone with an Egyptian obelisk on its back. This is the official symbol of the city and a seat for people to rest when at the fountain square. As I didn’t have an early morning to walk around Catania I would never see this fountain sans people sitting at its base. ( Something for next time, hopefully!)

The elephant fountain which is a symbol of the city

The famous fish market of Catania which is just off the Cathedral square was shut for repairs much to the relief of the better half and my disappointment. We stopped at the Fountain dell’Amenano which is the only place where the underground Amenano river is visible. The river once ran above ground through Catania in ancient times but over the centuries has become a completely underground waterway passing right under the city centre.

With the Fontana dell’Amenano and the under repair fish market behind it

We then walked through the lively Via Vittorio Emanuele II ( This guy has a street named after him in almost every Italian city – the Italian equivalent of MG road in India!) till we reached the Piazza San Francesco which had a statue of a Cardinal Dusmet and not the saint himself!

At Piazza San Francesco with the Statue of Cardinal Dusmet

We then passed though a lane called Via Crociferi which has some typically oversized Baroque churches another thing I found typical of Sicily. I quickly realised that we would just scratch the surface of what could be seen in Catania in our short time here and we just satisfied ourselves by taking photos of the humongous facades.

Oversized Baroque churches on via Crociferi in Catania

The better half takes photos of the beautiful pedestrian via Crociferi

Church of St Julian on via Crociferi

Chiesa of San Francesco

The next item on the agenda was the most important – cheese shopping before the shops closed in the afternoon. I had located the closest Coop supermarket on maps and we walked straight to it and bought my stash of Sicilian Cheese to enjoy back home. With cheese packed we stopped at a small local bakery where I used my minimal Italian to order and eat some fresh local baked goods as a light lunch. We returned to the Duomo square and our hotel to keep the packed cheese before we left the room again to see the only other site we had the time for and the one I was most interested in – The Teatro Romano of Catania.

Back at the always bubbling Cathedral Square in Catania

Posing with the Catania Cathedral in the background

Our basic room at the Hotel Centrale Europa in Catania

Before we set off for the Teatro Romano we visited a small church right on the square again dedicated to St Agata. Much smaller than the Cathedral dedicated to her but equally beautiful with it’s huge hanging chandelier and delicately carved marble statues.

The church of St Agata in Catania

We then rushed to the Teatro Romano as we had just an hour and a half half to see it before it closed for the day. Unlike the grand setting of the Teatro Greco Romano in Taormina ( Teatro Antico & Isola Bella, an eventful morning in Taormina – Exploring Eastern Sicily, Part 3 ) this Roman Theatre is hidden in plain sight. From the via Vittorio Emanuele outside it’s impossible to know that a Roman Theatre lurks just behind the modern buildings lining it.

The Teatro Romano of Catania – amidst modern buildings all around

The buildings around the theatre were inhabited till the 1950s

There was hardly any crowd inside as compared to the crowded street outside which was just perfect for us. We walked the steps of the original Greek theatre, rebuilt in roman times which has stood here for centuries. I am always in awe when I’m inside these Roman monuments and theatres at what they accomplished without modern machinery ( They had slaves though!).

Happy at having got the chance to see the Roman Theatre in Catania

We had time enough to set up the mini tripod and take a few photos of ourselves at this historic site before walking around to the outside where there were ruins of an Odeum which was a smaller theatre meant for indoor concerts.

Using the mini tripod to take photos of us in the Teatro Romano

Taking turns to get our photos inside the historic structure

The Ruins of the Odeum outside the Main Theatre

The sky was getting overcast now but we milked our time inside the theatre enjoying the uniqueness of the structure before it was closing time and time for us to leave.

The sky gets overcast above the Teatro Romano in Catania

We then walked back to the Cathedral square where we did the touristy thing of sitting at a Cafe right at the Square and enjoying a drink and a granita. I also had a Arancini with Ragu as all the walking had made me peckish.

Piazza San Francesco in Catania at dusk

The arch from where the pedestrian Via Crociferi begins

Back at the Cathedral square with overcast skies above

Enjoying a granita and a drink at a Cafe on the Cathedral square

Enjoying a snack and drink at the Cafe del Duomo

As we finished our drink and snack at leisure the skies kept getting darker and the lights had switched on. So I got the chance to capture the Duomo Square with the lights on.

The lights switch on as the skies darken over Piazza del Duomo, Catania

The Catania Cathedral facade all lit up

A view of the square from the Cathedral steps – always teeming with people

The Palazza de Chierici on Duomo Square

The Elephant fountain of Catania at dusk

The beautiful but crowded Cathedral Square of Catania at dusk

Happy us at the Cathedral square in Catania

We went back to our hotel in the nick of time for the skies to open up and the rain to start pouring down. That brought the end to our brief exploration of Catania where we had just seen a few of the Main sights in our half day here. We would step out at dinner time to have a low key dinner at a kebab and falafel place close to our hotel before retiring for the night.

We would take a pre booked taxi early the next morning for the airport and have an eventless journey back home.

Happy us after enjoying Eastern Sicily for 11 days!

We had enjoyed Eastern Sicily to the fullest and it has surpassed all our expectations. We expected to have problems with public transport and general griminess but had faced none. We hope to be back to explore the Western part of this island some day!

That completes this series which has taken me a fair amount of time to write. Till next time from a new series about a new destination.

Ciao!

Me telling my cat about his Sicilian cousins and the fun we had!