Fashion historian Alexandre Vassiliev has traveled to more than 85 countries, and he spends more time in Italy than in almost any other. He lectures in Rome and Venice, leads private tours through Tuscany and Puglia, and returns every fall to the Amalfi Coast and Pompeii. Exclusively for Locals Insider, the historian, set designer, and collector has put together a personal guide to Italy. First up is Catania.
Sicily, the Island That Does Things Its Own Way
Sicily is a large island in the Mediterranean, off the southern tip of the Italian peninsula, and a part of Italy that still holds on to its autonomy. Under its special regional status, every tax collected in Sicily stays on the island — and Rome sends financial subsidies on top of that. These are unusual terms. And even though Sicily is officially Italy, it does things its own way.
Only a handful of Sicilian cities are truly worth the trip. There’s Palermo, the capital; Catania on the east coast; and Messina up in the northeast. Lately I’ve been heading east — to Catania and Syracuse.
Splendor and Squalor, Side by Side
Catania is the kind of city that, like a lot of big cities, has its own strange charm. Because it holds splendor and squalor together, like something out of Balzac. Grand baroque palazzos built from volcanic tuff — and a neighborhood where streetwalkers still work the sidewalks after dark. That scene has all but disappeared elsewhere — even in Paris you barely see it anymore. The whole picture has the raw, cartoonish quality of another century.
Things to See in Catania
Catania is known for its cathedrals, which are stately and handsome; for its palazzos; and for its fish market. The market sits just behind the Porta Uzeda gate, right off Piazza del Duomo, the cathedral square. It isn’t enormous, but it’s interesting — especially for costume jewelry and clothes, because Italy is obsessed with vintage right now and keeps reselling its own past glory.
Catania also has excellent museums and imposing monasteries. One you absolutely must visit is the Benedictine Monastery of San Nicolò l’Arena (Monastero dei Benedettini di San Nicolò l’Arena), one of the largest Benedictine complexes in Europe. It now houses the Department of Humanities at the University of Catania. The decoration of the church and the university cloister is superb.
Catania has been devastated twice. First came the 1669 eruption of Mount Etna: the lava flow reached the city and destroyed part of its walls. Then, just twenty-four years later — on January 11, 1693 — the catastrophic Val di Noto earthquake struck.
Roughly two-thirds of the city’s population died. You can still read that history in the streetscape: nearly every building you see today is from a later era, rebuilt in the early eighteenth century in the Sicilian baroque style that made the city famous.
In Catania you’ll still see shell-game hustlers running their scams on the street, which you don’t really find anywhere else. It’s a classic pickpocket setup. And yet the city is full of elegant men and women and purebred dogs.
Palazzo Biscari: Rococo and a World War II Footprint
A handful of beautiful private palazzos are open to visitors. The most striking is Palazzo Biscari, built by the Paternò Castello family, the princes of Biscari, immediately after the 1693 earthquake.
It’s less about the paintings and more about the furniture and interiors. The ceilings, the walls — absolutely magnificent. The main ballroom is pure rococo: mirrors, stucco, frescoes, a small dome over the dance floor that once served as an orchestra balcony.
During World War II, after the Allied landing on Sicily in 1943 (Operation Husky), the palace was requisitioned by the Anglo-American command, which set up headquarters here. It’s still owned by descendants of the same family today, and part of the rooms are open for guided visits. The tour is genuinely rewarding.
Vintage Shops Worth Half a Day
Sicily is deep into vintage right now. Catania has a handful of shops that are worth a serious afternoon:
- Camula — via Etnea 270, inner courtyard. Ceramics, silver, vintage bags and jewelry set in a historic Italian courtyard
- Freak — via Coppola 23. Vintage clothing and accessories, plus in-house leather goods
- Borgo Antico — antique shop in the historic center
Where to Eat and Drink in Catania
When it comes to food — as across all of Sicily — you’re looking at endless pasta and endless pizza. I can’t say the variety is remarkable, though there are a few legendary cafés in the center famous for their pastries and sweets. You just need a strong constitution and no history of diabetes to make it through everything they keep pushing on you.
What Sicily does have is wine. A huge number of wineries and genuinely excellent bottles make staying in this inexpensive part of Italy a real pleasure. For anyone who enjoys a drink — I highly recommend it.
The Best Restaurants in Catania, Picked by Locals Insider
- Comis Ice Cafè — Piazza Vincenzo Bellini 15. Tables directly across from Teatro Massimo Bellini. The best granita in town, served with warm, pillowy brioche col tuppo. The morning ritual: a glass of almond granita, the brioche, a view of the opera house.
- Mé Cumpari Turiddu — Piazza Turi Ferro 36/38. An icon of Catania’s food scene. Roberta Capizzi left her law practice in Milan to open a Slow Food restaurant: ingredients from the family farm, 200 Sicilian wines in the cellar. Pasta alla Norma, spaghetti with anchovies, braised donkey, Sicilian tiramisu in a jar. Book ahead.
- Osteria Antica Marina — Via Pardo 29, right inside the fish market. A Michelin Guide pick. The fish is picked from a stall five meters from your table. Spaghetti with cuttlefish ink, sea urchin, red prawns. Reservations required.
- Scirocco Sicilian Fish Lab — Piazza Alonzo Di Benedetto 5. Fried fish in paper cones in the heart of La Pescheria — street food with a roof. Fast, loud, perfect between museums.
- FUD Bottega Sicula — Via Santa Filomena 35. Fast food for people with principles: gourmet burgers and panini made from Sicilian ingredients, drinks from local wineries. A midday stop between sights.
- Razmataz — Via Montesano. A wine bar with a kitchen just off Via Etnea, where the most stylish end of Catania has dinner. Short menu that changes often, and a wine list heavy on small Sicilian producers. Book ahead.
- Pasticceria Savia — Via Etnea 300–302. A legendary pastry shop from 1897, directly across from the Bellini Gardens. Cone-shaped arancini, cannoli, granita with brioche — the classics, all of them. “You need a strong constitution and no history of diabetes,” as our guide put it.
A Day Trip Across the Island: The Mosaic Villa
Not far from Catania — not in Syracuse, but in the center of the island, about two and a half hours away — sits Villa Romana del Casale, near the town of Piazza Armerina. It’s an early-fourth-century Roman villa and a UNESCO site. A twelfth-century landslide buried the floors in mud, which is the only reason the mosaics survived in such extraordinary condition.
Lush fourth-century mosaics of bikini-clad women doing gymnastics, scenes of elephant and lion hunts, animals being loaded onto ships — all laid out across an astonishing expanse of floor. Total mosaic surface: about 3,500 square meters. It’s the largest collection of Roman mosaics in a single location anywhere in the world. Worth the whole trip in itself.
Closer in, there’s Syracuse — a city of extraordinary beauty, Greek and Roman in its bones, with the island of Ortigia at its heart. Another must.
Mount Etna, Rumbling Through the Night
Right next door is Mount Etna, which rumbles almost every night. It isn’t exactly erupting — you just hear the thunder, and I’d often wake up to it, as if the mountain were reminding you it was still there. A living mountain that refuses to be forgotten.
The Best Places to Stay in Catania, Picked by Locals Insider
- Monaci delle Terre Nere — Via Monte Ilice 7, Zafferana Etnea. Not in Catania itself, but 40 minutes away on the slopes of Etna. An eighteenth-century winery turned relais: black lava walls, vineyards, a pool facing the volcano. For travelers who want to live Etna, not just see it. From €400 per night.
- Asmundo di Gisira — Via Gisira 40. An eighteenth-century palazzo reborn as an “art market living boutique.” Eleven rooms, each built around an original artwork — contemporary painting, sculpture, a ceramic Spider-Man climbing the facade. A glass floor in the lobby reveals Roman excavations below. The rooftop aperitivo bar looks out on the cathedral, the port, and Etna. From €220 per night.
- Palace Catania | UNA Esperienze — Via Etnea 218. A five-star, early-1900s hotel on Catania’s main shopping street. The rooftop with its Etna panorama is where locals come for aperitivo. A classic choice if you want a hotel, not a palazzo-with-history. From €200 per night.
- Habitat Boutique Hotel — Via Antonino Longo 53. A small design hotel a few minutes from Teatro Massimo Bellini. A quieter alternative to the noisy center. From €130 per night.
Here is our take on the latest boutique hotel in Sicily and a guide to the nicest hotels in Palermo.
Planning a Trip but Not Sure About Italy?
Catania is south, volcano, baroque cut from black lava. But there’s another southern shore worth knowing — Morocco, where our guide has been leading private tours for years. If you’d rather see art deco, hear the story of Bogart and Piaf, and get a seat at Rick’s Café, read our Casablanca guide.
