MAZZINI SQUARE

Ubased in the beating heart of the city, it opens in a symmetrical structure on the ancient via delli ?Scarpari?, now Via Garibaldi, on an axis with both the main entrance of the Cathedral and, on the opposite side, with the Garibaldi Gate at the Fortino.

Custodian of a fascinating history of change, of ties to the past and the present, it was once called ?chianu di San Filippo? because of its proximity to the church of Saints Philip and James and, because of its characteristics, it housed a thriving market that preceded the current fish market; later with the new toponymy it was given the name of ?piazza San Filippo? and then became, after the unification of Italy, piazza Mazzini.

Next to the old Giudecca subtana neighborhood, it has repeatedly been the site of calamitous events, such as the lava flow of 1669, the earthquake of 1693, and, as the story goes, an extraordinary flood.

In 1738, the Duke of Camastra, in charge of carrying out the reconstruction of the city of Catania, entrusted the design of the new look of the square to the architects Stefano Ittar and Francesco Battaglia, intended for the market, contemplating   the arcade with all the stores.

Slowly the market, too small for the needs of a growing city, was located in other parts of the city.

Characterized by a structure absorbed by Spanish urbanism, it is framed by four angular porticoed bodies supported by columns, probably expoliated from the nearby Greek and Roman theater that support the four Baroque-style noble palaces named Asmundo di Gisira (southeast), Peratoner (southwest corner), Gagliani (northwest), Scammacca della Bruca (northeast).

They have beautiful loggia terraces whose overlooks look out onto the square.

Rich in charm and beauty, it offers the visitor a summa of both artistic and enogastronomic peculiarities, making it one of the most distinctive and beautiful squares in Italy, inviting the tourist to an almost obligatory stop in the various restaurants, once workshops, for a meal of our traditional cuisine under the shelter of the articulated loggia.