Sicily Travel Guide: Catania

Catania lies on the Ionian Sea, under the shadow of Mount Etna, or “A Muntagna” as the locals refer to it. In 1669 Catania was covered in lava and then, just 24 years later in 1693 an earthquake shook the town down to its foundations.The reaction to this latter catastrophe was amazing: the entire old part of town was rebuilt in Baroque style, with large, wide open squares and avenues. The most remarkable aspect, however, was the building material used: lava.

The main square, Piazza Duomo, and all its surroudning buildings was designed by one man, Giovanni Battista Vaccarini from Palermo.

At the centre of the Piazza Duomo stands the appealing Elephant fountain, created in 1736. As well as being made in imitation of Bernini's Minerva Elephant in Rome, it is reminiscent of Catania's long and varied past.

The Villa Bellini is the largest park in the centre of Catania. The park was completed in 1883 and is located north of the city. It is inspiring because of its varied design and the many statues of famous people of Catania. Another attraction is the Botanical Clock - a date display of flowers, which is updated and replanted daily.

The fortress of Castello Ursino was built by Frederick II of Hohenstaufen in the 13th century on a rocky cliff overlooking the sea. However, the massive lava spill of the 1669 eruption pushed the sea back, creating in one fail swoop a new coastline and stripping Castello Ursino of its strategic position.

Malbec World Day

April 17 is chosen by Wines of Argentina to pay tribute to Malbec, a symbol of transformation for the Argentine wine industry and a wine star that shines all over the world.

Malbec is a purple grape variety used in making red wine. The grapes tend to have an inky dark color and robust tannins, and are known as one of the six grapes allowed in the blend of red Bordeaux wine.

37 Reasons to Visit Turin, Italy

Passion lives here.
- Turin 2006 Olympics motto by Francesca Biasetton

Turin used to be a major European political centre, being Italy's first capital city in 1861 and being home to the House of Savoy, Italy's royal family.

Turin's several monuments and sights make it one of the world's top 250 tourist destinations, and the tenth most visited city in Italy

The Mole Antonelliana, the architectural symbol of Torino, was begun in 1863 by Alessandro Antonelli, an architect from Novara. The building was originally meant to be a synagogue but the Municipality of Torino bought it in 1878, while it was still under construction.

Construction was completed in 1889. At the time of its completion, at 167.5 meters in height, it was the tallest masonry building in all of Europe.

Nowadays the Mole is the actual seat of the National Museum of Cinema.

Museo Egizio is considered one of the main Egypt museums in the world, with those in Cairo and in London.

Built in the 1920s for Fiat, Lingotto was the largest and most modern car manufacturing plant in Europe, both architecturally and in terms of car production.

The 500m-long, five-storey building, had a volume of one million cubic metres, and was equipped with a rooftop test track.

Maria Batali's Mecca of food, Eataly, opened in 2007.

The Museo Nazionale dell'Automobile, founded by Carlo Biscaretti di Ruffia, has a collection of almost 200 cars among eighty automobile brands representing eight countries.

The classic Negroni cocktail was originally known as a ‘Milano-Torino’ because of its two main ingredients; Campari is from Milan and the vermouth Cinzano from Turin.

The Holy Shroud is an old piece of linen cloth whose history, like any object of ancient times, is difficult to reconstruct, even though there exists an age-old popular tradition which identifies it as the funeral linen that was wrapped around Jesus' body after his death.