Catania.
I was in Catania three years ago, on another trip to Sicily with Tris T. The strongest of the mass of impressions that I have left sounds like this: a strikingly beautiful city. Firstly, the main cathedral of the city, whose history goes back almost a thousand years. In general, I love ancient places (and a thousand years is the ideal age when there is still something to see, but the spirit and ruthlessness of time is already felt behind it), and ancient cathedrals, later decorated by architects of the eighteenth century, are generally a delight. Catania Cathedral is one of those cases where something very, very old peeps through the outer baroque shell. Secondly, I could not but like the Roman forum and the Greco-Roman amphitheater, which made a much greater impression than the remnants of ancient Roman grandeur in Rome itself. The famous symbol of Catania - the black elephant - also did not leave anyone indifferent, it is funny, and the story associated with it is even funnier.
But it’s not so much beauty that strikes in Catania. Personally, I admired the history of this city to the depths of my soul. Catania was destroyed by earthquakes, wiped off the face of the earth by the eruptions of Etna, devastated by epidemics, in particular, the plague, conquered by strangers... but despite all of the above, this city still exists. Moreover, it is flourishing. Time after time, he was reborn from the ashes even more beautiful. than before... and this strikes me in Catania and its inhabitants, perhaps, most of all.
