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Piazza Stesicoro

Italy stubsPiazzas in Catania
MonumentoBelliniCT
MonumentoBelliniCT

Piazza Stesicoro is a rectangular city square in the historic center of the city of Catania, in Sicily, Italy. The piazza is frequently host to markets. The circumvalent street is bisected by Via Etna and at the eastern end opens to the modern boulevard of corso Sicilia. The western half of the piazza displays ruins of the former Ancient Roman amphitheater of Catania. Facing the ruins is the neoclassical facade of the church of San Biagio, also known as Sant'Agata alla Fornace. Also facing the piazza are the following buildings: Palazzo Tezzano; Palazzo Paternò del Toscano; and the Palazzo Beneventano della Corte. An 1842 guide to Sicily recalls the piazza hosting a monument to King Ferdinand II of the Two Sicilies, with the monarch dressed in Ancient Roman garb. this monument had been removed by 1864 after the 1861 defeat by Garibaldi of the armies of the Bourbon monarchy of Naples and Sicily. The monument honoring Ferdinand's father King Francis I, which had been at Piazza dell'Universita was also removed during this period. The Ferdinand monument was replaced by the present Monument to Vincenzo Bellini, the composer of operas, with a base surrounded by characters from his operas.

Excerpt from the Wikipedia article Piazza Stesicoro (License: CC BY-SA 3.0, Authors, Images).

Piazza Stesicoro
Catania Centro storico

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Geographical coordinates (GPS)

Latitude Longitude
N 37.507444444444 ° E 15.085916666667 °
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95121 Catania, Centro storico
Sicily, Italy
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Palazzo Gioeni Asmundo
Palazzo Gioeni Asmundo

The Palazzo Gioeni Asmundo is an notable palace located on via Fragalà #10 facing Piazza dell'Università in the center of Catania, region of Sicily, southern Italy. The building, like the two other prominent palaces facing this piazza, now houses offices of the University of Catania. The palace design is attributed, like much of Baroque Catania, to Giovanni Battista Vaccarini. It was commissioned by the then Duke Gioeni d'Angiò and completed in 1743. The base is made with dark lava stones, and the palace is framed with blocks of white stone forming pillars. The piano nobile (third floor) has a number of balconies with metal balustrades. The central portico and third floor windows have elegant stone pediments with grotesque masks. The palace underwent an extensive remodeling in 1966. Most notable on the facade is a bronze sculptural monument honoring Giuseppe Gioeni d'Angiò (Catania, 12 May 1743 – Catania, 6 December 1822). Giuseppe, son of the duke who commissioned the palace, achieved prominence for his writings about geology and the volcanos of Campania and Sicily. He was an avid collector of mineral and natural artifacts. He obtained a doctorate in philosophy and was made professor of Botanical and Natural History at the University of Catania. However his participation in politics during the turbulent Napoleonic era, led to his exile, and later imprisonment by the Bourbon authorities. The monument was completed in 1920 by Mario Rutelli, crowns his portrait with a complex Hapsburg coat of arms and a coat of arms for his family. A local scientific society, Accademia Gioenia, is named in his honor.