Description
The Pescheria, "a Piscarìa" in Sicilian, is Catania's historic fish market, a stone's throw from Piazza Duomo: stalls piled with fish, the smell of the sea, and the hubbub of fishmongers shouting out their wares. It is one of the liveliest sights in the city.
You get there by the lava-stone staircase that goes down behind the Fontana dell'Amenano. The heart of the market is in the gallery dug under the Palazzo del Seminario dei Chierici, and the stalls spill out into Piazza Alonzo di Benedetto and Piazza Pardo, all the way to the Archi della Marina.
On the stalls is fish from the Ionian coast: swordfish, sea bass, red mullet, mussels, and sea urchins. But for many visitors the real show is the vuciata, the cry with which the vendors call out to customers, praise their goods, and announce the price.
You'll also hear the vuciata in the city's other great historic market, the Fera 'o Luni in Piazza Carlo Alberto. It is probably a legacy of Islamic rule, like the Arab souk atmosphere of smells, flavors, and colors.
The market's gallery has a curious history. It was created in 1814 by digging into the earthwork of the 16th-century walls built by Charles V, and the gate that was opened took the emperor's name for that reason: Porta Carlo V.
On the sea side the market is closed off by the Archi della Marina, the long railroad viaduct opened in 1869, with arches of gray basalt and ivory-colored stone. The viaduct ends right here, just past Porta Uzeda, level with the Pescheria.
When it was built, the arches stood with their feet in the water of the little fishermen's harbor, and the city protested because the track cut off the port and the seafront promenade. The little harbor was later filled in and turned into the Giardino Pacini and the nearby squares.
You get there by the lava-stone staircase that goes down behind the Fontana dell'Amenano. The heart of the market is in the gallery dug under the Palazzo del Seminario dei Chierici, and the stalls spill out into Piazza Alonzo di Benedetto and Piazza Pardo, all the way to the Archi della Marina.
On the stalls is fish from the Ionian coast: swordfish, sea bass, red mullet, mussels, and sea urchins. But for many visitors the real show is the vuciata, the cry with which the vendors call out to customers, praise their goods, and announce the price.
You'll also hear the vuciata in the city's other great historic market, the Fera 'o Luni in Piazza Carlo Alberto. It is probably a legacy of Islamic rule, like the Arab souk atmosphere of smells, flavors, and colors.
The market's gallery has a curious history. It was created in 1814 by digging into the earthwork of the 16th-century walls built by Charles V, and the gate that was opened took the emperor's name for that reason: Porta Carlo V.
On the sea side the market is closed off by the Archi della Marina, the long railroad viaduct opened in 1869, with arches of gray basalt and ivory-colored stone. The viaduct ends right here, just past Porta Uzeda, level with the Pescheria.
When it was built, the arches stood with their feet in the water of the little fishermen's harbor, and the city protested because the track cut off the port and the seafront promenade. The little harbor was later filled in and turned into the Giardino Pacini and the nearby squares.