One of the largest Benedictine monasteries in Europe and a UNESCO World Heritage site, founded in 1558 and shaped by both the 1669 lava eruption and the 1693 earthquake. Now home to the University of Catania’s humanities faculty, its vast baroque courtyards, corridors and cloisters can be explored on guided tours — which reveal a Roman house and antiquities layered beneath the later architecture. A remarkable, less-touristed highlight.
Book it: an Underground Catania & street food tour explores the old town’s layers.
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Piazza Dante, Catania · UNESCO Benedictine monastery (1558), now the university · guided tours · Roman house beneath