Catania's favourite son was the composer of Norma. The city named its loveliest garden and its gilded opera house after him.
Vincenzo Bellini was born in Catania in 1801 and died in Paris at 33, having written Norma, La sonnambula and I puritani. The city has never stopped celebrating him.
Villa Bellini, at the top of Via Etnea, has been Catania's promenade since 1883: palms, a floral clock, iron bandstands and a terrace with Etna smoking beyond.
The Teatro Massimo Bellini opened in 1890 with Norma. Inside, four tiers of gilded boxes rise to a painted ceiling, and the acoustics are among the finest in Italy. The season runs from October to June.
Guided tours cost a few euros on days without rehearsals. Bellini's birthplace museum is on Piazza San Francesco, near Via dei Crociferi.
Garden, theatre and an evening at the opera.
Walk up through the palms to the terrace and the view of the volcano.
The working clock in flowers, and the busts of famous Catanesi along the avenues.
Bellini's family rooms, scores and keepsakes.
The horseshoe auditorium, the boxes and the painted ceiling.
Hear Norma or a concert in the house built for it.
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Villa Bellini is at the top of Via Etnea; the theatre is a five-minute walk east of the Duomo.
Book performances on the theatre's site; gallery seats are good value.
The park opens early and closes at dusk; it is shady at midday in summer.
Catania practical notes →Photographs from Wikimedia Commons and Pexels under their licences.
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