Il Palazzo Municipale

Catania’s Town Hall, which was begun immediately after the 1693 earthquake is quadrangular in shape with a large courtyard with porticoes on two sides. It has an entrance atrium on each of the four façades to underline its open nature and the concept of service to the community.
The entrance on Piazza Duomo, the heart of the city, is rendered more important by a large portal linked to the tribune, the central balcony on the upper floor.
The architect Vaccarini intervened in 1735 when the construction was already reaching the first elevations and he modified the prospect interrupting the diamond ashlar uprights and continuing them with flat pilasters; at the same time he introduced the rich tribune balcony, its balustrade supported by four granite columns, that sits above the entrance.
The trabeation of the balcony is supported by capital, while on the two sides of the split tympanum there are two statuary groups in an arrangement that was then fashionable. At the centre of the two groups the city’s crest stands out.
The focal point of the construction, as already mentioned, is the large balcony from which dignitaries can follow the religious celebrations that take place in the great Baroque theatre of the piazza. And it is from this balcony that during Saint Agatha’s feast the political and religious authorities (united by a deep devotion to the saint) listen to the cantata, religious songs dedicated to Saint Agatha and watch the firework displays.
Federico De Roberto (1861-1927) wrote in I Vicerè (The Viceroys) “From the road there came a noise like a beehive, such was the crowd and the big bell of the cathedral with its grave and slow pealing seemed to be ringing out the scales to the bells of the Abbey, the Collegiata church and the Minorites’ – ‘Viva Sant’Agata!’ All the ladies knelt down. […] The firework display paid for by the prince started; in the midst of the smoke that seemed to come from a battle the rapid and frequent explosions were commensurate with those of a regiment; the shouts of viva were lost in the midst of the racket of the explosions and above the sea of heads handkerchiefs waved like swarms of startled doves”.
The Senate carriages are kept in the courtyard of the Town Hall: to the right is a richly decorated gala carriage in gilded and painted wood from the end of the eighteenth century; while to the left I another, more simple carriage. Both of these are used during Saint Agatha’s celebrations and on 3 February the city’s dignitaries travel to the church of San Biagio (Piazza Stesicoro) in the carriages to offer a candle to the saint.

Catania’s Elephant

Catania’ symbol sits in the centre of Piazza Duomo – the lava elephant. Over time the story of this elephant has acquired all sorts of legendary and imaginative embellishment regarding objects and animals that now grant it a symbolic and apotropaic value. The common name “Liotru” can be attributed to identification with the wizard Heliodorus who apparently used to ride the elephant. The sculpture dates to the Roman era and decorated the spina in the Circus Massimus together with the Egyptian obelisk in Siena granite which the animal carries on its saddles. Vaccarini remounted these two “ancient” elements in 1736 following the model of Bernini’s Minerva Elephant in Rome; emblems relating to Saint Agatha sit above them. The elephant is the symbol of Catania and in the city’s crest it is surmounted by the figure of Saint Agatha warrior or by an “A” (many people link this initial with Agatha).

copyright Giuseppe Maimone Publisher