Catania: 2-Hour Private Tour with Arancino Tasting

Catania: 2-Hour Private Tour with Arancino Tasting

Architecture Food & Drinks Sightseeing Tours Churches & Cathedrals Market Tours Medium-risk activities

Enjoy a guided tour in the city that has given life to great talents in the artistic and scientific fields like Vincenzo Bellini, Carmen Consoli, Giovanni Verga, Ettore Majorana for a tour full of history, passion, Baroque architecture and typical food.

Highlights

Discover one of the most important cities in Sicily
Explore the palaces in the Baroque style, the ancient Norman-Swabian castle and Sant'Agata Cathedral
Taste the famous Sicilian arancino - proof that food is art in Italy

Description

This guided tour of Catania will start from the Ursino Castle, a building commissioned by Emperor Frederick II of Swabia, on an old Norman fortress built between 1239 and 1250. The castle has a square plan with four sides around an inner courtyard. Four round corner towers make it as strong as the models of the French castles. Then, passing from Via Auteri in front of the ruins of the Roman baths, you will reach the fish market of Catania and the life of the 'fish market' which is the food market and the beating heart of the city. From the fish market, a staircase leads directly to Piazza del Duomo with its numerous Baroque buildings and the emblem of Catania, the elephant fountain. Here, you will visit the Cathedral of Sant'Agata built in 1090 above the Roman baths of Achille, right in the place of the martyrdom of Sant'Agata in 251. After the earthquake of 1693, it was completely rebuilt. Inside, see the tomb of the famous composer Vincenzo Bellini and many Aragonese kings. During the tour, you will taste the famous Sicilian arancino: a typical product in the shape of a drop and filled with rice and meat sauce, to be eaten strictly with the hands holding it from the bottom end. After seeing the cathedral, you will continue in the direction of the Bellini Theater, one of the most famous theaters in Italy, in neo-Renaissance style, inaugurated in 1890. After a few steps, you will pass the Roman Theater and continue along Via Vittorio Emanuele, the tour will end at the Benedictine monastery and the Church of San Nicolò.