Simeto

Operation Fustian was an airborne forces operation undertaken during the Allied invasion of Sicily in July 1943 in the Second World War. The operation was carried out by Brigadier Gerald Lathbury's 1st Parachute Brigade, part of the British 1st Airborne Division. Their objective was the Primosole Bridge across the Simeto River. The intention was for the brigade, with glider-borne forces in support, to land on both sides of the river. They would then capture the bridge and secure the surrounding area until relieved by the advance of British XIII Corps, which had landed on the south eastern coast three days previously. Because the bridge was the only crossing on the river and would give the British Eighth Army access to the Catania plain, its capture was expected to speed the advance and lead to the defeat of the Axis forces in Sicily. Many of the aircraft carrying the paratroopers from North Africa were shot down or were damaged and turned back by friendly fire and enemy action. Evasive action taken by the pilots scattered the brigade over a large area and only the equivalent of two companies of troops were landed in the correct locations. Despite this and the defence by German and Italian forces, the British paratroops captured the bridge, repulsed attacks and held out against increasing odds until nightfall. The relief force led by the 50th (Northumbrian) Infantry Division, under Major-General Sidney C. Kirkman, which was short of transport, were still 1 mile (1.6 km) away when they halted for the night. By this time, with casualties mounting and supplies running short, the parachute brigade commander, Gerald Lathbury, had relinquished control of the bridge to the Germans. The following day the British units joined forces and the 9th Battalion, Durham Light Infantry, with tank support, attempted to recapture the bridge. The bridge was not finally secured until three days after the start of the operation, when another battalion of the Durham Light Infantry, led by the paratroopers, established a bridgehead on the north bank of the river. The capture of Primosole Bridge did not lead to the expected rapid advance, as by this time the Germans had gathered their forces and established a defensive line. It was not until early the following month that the Eighth Army captured Catania. By this time the 1st Parachute Brigade had been withdrawn to Malta and took no further part in the conquest of Sicily. Lessons were learned from the operation and were later put into practice in future Allied airborne operations.

The Gornalunga is an 81-kilometre-long (50 mi) river located in central-eastern Sicily. The river springs from Monte Rossomanno, on the Erean Mountains, in the province of Enna. After flowing through the plain of Catania, the river becomes an affluent of the Simeto river just few miles before reaching the Mediterranean coast. Along its course, the Gornalunga forms the artificial lake, Lago di Ogliastro, and touches three provinces, Enna, Catania and Syracuse.

Agnone Bagni (Sicilian: Agnuni) is a southern Italian beach resort and hamlet (frazione) of Augusta, a municipality part of the Province of Syracuse, Sicily. In 2011, it had a population of 120.

Catania–Fontanarossa Airport (Italian: Aeroporto Internazionale Vincenzo Bellini di Catania-Fontanarossa) (IATA: CTA, ICAO: LICC), also known as Vincenzo Bellini Airport, is an international airport 2.3 NM (4.3 km; 2.6 mi) southwest of Catania, the second largest city on the Italian island of Sicily. It is named after the opera composer Vincenzo Bellini, who was born in Catania. According to Assaeroporti, it is the busiest airport in Sicily and the fourth busiest in Italy in 2020. Major airlines such as Lufthansa and KLM offer services here and connect numerous European destinations such as Rome, Munich, Amsterdam and Berlin, while low-cost airlines such as easyJet and Ryanair offer flights to leisure destinations. With nearly two million passengers carried in 2016, the Catania/Fontanarossa – Rome/Fiumicino route is Italy's busiest air route, and Europe's fourth busiest.

The Gulf of Catania (Italian: Golfo di Catania) is an inlet of the Ionian Sea on the eastern coast of the Italian island of Sicily. Some twenty miles (or thirty-two kilometres) long and some five miles (eight km) wide, the gulf lies between Cape Campolato to the south and Cape Molini to the north. Mount Etna is close to it, and the Simeto River runs into it below Catania.

Castello Ursino (Sicilian: Casteddu Ursinu, lit. 'Bear Castle'), also known as Castello Svevo di Catania, is a castle in Catania, Sicily, southern Italy. It was built in the 13th century as a royal castle of the Kingdom of Sicily, and is mostly known for its role in the Sicilian Vespers, when it became the seat of the Sicilian Parliament. The castle is in good condition today, and it is open to the public as a museum.

Catania (UK: , US: , Sicilian and Italian: [kaˈtaːnja] (listen)) is the second largest municipality in Sicily, after Palermo. Despite its reputation as the second city of the island, Catania is the largest Sicilian conurbation, among the largest in Italy, as evidenced also by the presence of important road and rail transport infrastructures as well as by the main airport in Sicily, fifth in Italy. It is located on Sicily's east coast, at the base of the active volcano, Mount Etna, and it faces the Ionian Sea. It is the capital of the 58-municipality region known as the Metropolitan City of Catania, which is the seventh-largest metropolitan city in Italy. The population of the city proper is 311,584, while the population of the Metropolitan City of Catania is 1,107,702.Catania was founded in the 8th century BC by Chalcidian Greeks. The city has weathered multiple geologic catastrophes: it was almost completely destroyed by a catastrophic earthquake in 1169. A major eruption and lava flow from nearby Mount Etna nearly swamped the city in 1669 and it suffered severe devastation from the 1693 Sicily earthquake.During the 14th century, and into the Renaissance period, Catania was one of Italy's most important cultural, artistic and political centres. It was the site of Sicily's first university, founded in 1434. It has been the native or adopted home of some of Italy's most famous artists and writers, including the composers Vincenzo Bellini and Giovanni Pacini, and the writers Giovanni Verga, Luigi Capuana, Federico De Roberto and Nino Martoglio. Catania today is the industrial, logistical, and commercial center of Sicily. Its airport, the Catania-Fontanarossa Airport, is the largest in Southern Italy. The central "old town" of Catania features exuberant late-baroque architecture, prompted after the 1693 earthquake, and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

The Plain of Catania (Sicilian: La Chiana di Catania, Italian: La Piana di Catania) is the most extensive and most important plain in Sicily.

The Porta Garibaldi, originally built as the Porta Ferdinandea or Porta Ferdinanda, is a triumphal arch, built in 1768, located at the end of Via Giuseppe Garibaldi, between the Piazza Palestro and Piazza Crocifisso in the quartiere Fortino of Catania, region of Sicily, Italy. It was built to celebrate the marriage of the Bourbon king Ferdinand I of the Two Sicilies to the Austrian princess Maria Carolina d'Asburgo-Lorena. The architects of the monument were Francesco Battaglia and Stefano Ittar. The monument is made of alternating white stone from Siracusa and local dark lava blocks. At the top center of the arch is now a clock, surrounded by allegorical symbols, including an eagle and a statue recalling the black elephant u Liotru, symbol of Catania. Originally, instead of a clock, was a marble bust of the Bourbon king. Flanking this tympanum, at the second level are two angels with trumpets. Flanking these are two sculptural depictions of Trophy of arms. Underneath these dsplays of weapons and armor are written two phrases: one says Litteris armatur (armed with letters) and the other Armis decoratur (decorated with arms). On the east side the tympanum shield depicts a phoenix rising with a Latin cartouche stating Melior de cinere surgo (Better I arise from the ashes), which aptly applies to Catania, that has often required rebuilding due to volcanic activity and earthquakes.

Santa Maria dell’Aiuto is a Roman Catholic parish church and located on Via Santa Maria dell’Aiuto #80, where it encounters Via San Giovanni and Via Consolato della Seta, in Catania, Sicily, southern Italy.

The Giardino Pacini (English translation: "Pacini Garden"), also known as Villa Pacini or the Villa Varagghi, is a small circular urban park located just south of the Porta Uzeda, on the seaward side of the elevated railway viaduct, in Catania, region of Sicily, Italy. It is partially encircled by Via Lavandaie and Via Jonica.

The 1693 Sicily earthquake struck parts of southern Italy near Sicily, then a territory part of the Crown of Aragon by the Kings of Spain Calabria, and Malta on 11 January at around 21:00 local time. This earthquake was preceded by a damaging foreshock on 9 January. The main quake had an estimated magnitude of 7.4 on the moment magnitude scale, the most powerful in Italian recorded history, and a maximum intensity of XI (Extreme) on the Mercalli intensity scale, destroying at least 70 towns and cities, seriously affecting an area of 5,600 square kilometres (2,200 sq mi) and causing the death of about 60,000 people. The earthquake was followed by tsunamis that devastated the coastal villages on the Ionian Sea and in the Straits of Messina. Almost two-thirds of the entire population of Catania were killed. The epicentre of the disaster was probably close to the coast, possibly offshore, although the exact position remains unknown. The extent and degree of destruction caused by the earthquake resulted in the extensive rebuilding of the towns and cities of southeastern Sicily, particularly the Val di Noto, in a homogeneous late Baroque style, described as "the culmination and final flowering of Baroque art in Europe". According to a contemporary account of the earthquake by Vincentius Bonajutus, published in the Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society, "It was in this country impossible to keep upon our legs, or in one place on the dancing Earth; nay, those that lay along on the ground, were tossed from side to side, as if on a rolling billow."