Description
The Bellini Garden, for the people of Catania simply "'a Villa," is Catania's best-loved public park: about seven hectares of greenery on two twin hillocks next to Via Etnea, with stairways, avenues, fountains and little bridges. It is the place to go for a stroll, to sit, to bring the kids.
To get your bearings, all you need to know is that the main entrance is on Via Etnea: from there a grand staircase climbs to the big terrace with the swan pond, surrounded by four monumental statue groups of the Arts and the Seasons, put up in the 1930s. The rest is for exploring on foot.
The calling card is the plant clock: the date is written in a flower bed and changed every day by the gardeners. Since the 1950s the flower beds on the two hillocks have been filled with designs and lettering made of flowers.
On top of the south hill stands the Music Kiosk, in wrought iron and Moorish style, from 1879, built for concerts. Along the west side runs the Avenue of Illustrious Men, with busts of great Italians and natives of Catania on columns, completed in 1880.
As for history, the Villa began as a private garden. In the 18th century Prince Ignazio Paternò Castello of Biscari had it laid out with maze hedges, statues and fountains, and called it the Labyrinth. After his death, in 1786, his heirs let it go to ruin.
The city bought it in 1854, after very long negotiations. Turning it into a public promenade was no small feat: money was short, private vegetable plots had to be bought and the experts quarreled among themselves. Work started only in 1863, and the engineer Filadelfo Fichera then joined the new grounds to the Labyrinth with stairways, little bridges and avenues.
The garden is dedicated to Vincenzo Bellini, whose bust stands at the foot of the south hill, and it was inaugurated on January 6, 1883. Between 1935 and 1952, in summer, it even hosted opera seasons, with voices such as Tito Schipa and Mario Del Monaco.
Around 1960 a small zoo arrived too, with monkeys, exotic birds and even elephants, a tribute to the city's symbol. The last survivor, an Indian elephant donated by the Orfei circus, died in the mid-1980s.
Don't miss
• The plant clock.
• The Music Kiosk.
• The Avenue of Illustrious Men.
Did you know?
• On the north hill there was a Chinese pavilion built in 1869, with a library: a fire destroyed it in 2001.
• At the start of the Avenue of Illustrious Men there has been a bronze statue of Giuseppe Mazzini since 1875.
To get your bearings, all you need to know is that the main entrance is on Via Etnea: from there a grand staircase climbs to the big terrace with the swan pond, surrounded by four monumental statue groups of the Arts and the Seasons, put up in the 1930s. The rest is for exploring on foot.
The calling card is the plant clock: the date is written in a flower bed and changed every day by the gardeners. Since the 1950s the flower beds on the two hillocks have been filled with designs and lettering made of flowers.
On top of the south hill stands the Music Kiosk, in wrought iron and Moorish style, from 1879, built for concerts. Along the west side runs the Avenue of Illustrious Men, with busts of great Italians and natives of Catania on columns, completed in 1880.
As for history, the Villa began as a private garden. In the 18th century Prince Ignazio Paternò Castello of Biscari had it laid out with maze hedges, statues and fountains, and called it the Labyrinth. After his death, in 1786, his heirs let it go to ruin.
The city bought it in 1854, after very long negotiations. Turning it into a public promenade was no small feat: money was short, private vegetable plots had to be bought and the experts quarreled among themselves. Work started only in 1863, and the engineer Filadelfo Fichera then joined the new grounds to the Labyrinth with stairways, little bridges and avenues.
The garden is dedicated to Vincenzo Bellini, whose bust stands at the foot of the south hill, and it was inaugurated on January 6, 1883. Between 1935 and 1952, in summer, it even hosted opera seasons, with voices such as Tito Schipa and Mario Del Monaco.
Around 1960 a small zoo arrived too, with monkeys, exotic birds and even elephants, a tribute to the city's symbol. The last survivor, an Indian elephant donated by the Orfei circus, died in the mid-1980s.
Don't miss
• The plant clock.
• The Music Kiosk.
• The Avenue of Illustrious Men.
Did you know?
• On the north hill there was a Chinese pavilion built in 1869, with a library: a fire destroyed it in 2001.
• At the start of the Avenue of Illustrious Men there has been a bronze statue of Giuseppe Mazzini since 1875.