Piazza Duomo and the cathedral
The traditional center of Catania is marked by the Piazza del Duomo, the confluence point of the main roads. The pivot of the space is the Elephant Fountain, the lava emblem of the city; designed in 1736 by the architect G. B. Vaccarini, it consists of an elephant and an Egyptian obelisk placed on a base and surmounted by a ball and the insignia of Sant’Agata. Under the church, the seminary and the square in front of it extend the baths. To the left of the Cathedral there is the fountain of the Amenano (1867) which collected and let fall the waters of the underground river of the same name.
The Cathedral is dedicated to S. Agata, patron saint of the city. It was built by Count Roger in the years 1078-93 near the remains of the Achillian Baths and rebuilt for the first time in 1169 and then following the earthquake of 1693. Its troubled life can be guessed from its architecture, in which Norman styles merge , Aragonese, Baroque and Neoclassical. The main façade, made by Vaccarini between 1733 and 1761, has two orders of columns and decorated at the top with the statue of the patron saint. The interior has three naves divided by pillars; among the famous burials, the tomb of Vincenzo Bellini. The right transept leads to the chapel of the Madonna, with the tomb of Constance of Aragon and the Aragonese royals who resided in Catania. In the right apse, the chapel of S. Agata leads to the chapel where the relics and part of the rich treasure of the saint are kept.
Not far away, the University Building, which stands in the square of the same name, was begun in 1696 and consists of a single square-shaped block. The Aula Magna has the vault frescoed by Giovan Battista Piparo and the walls entirely covered with damask. The building is the seat of the first Sicilian University (1434) and also houses the important Regional University Library, which houses 210,000 volumes, as well as numerous manuscripts, letters and codes.