The Sea in Catania

A heavenly sea

In front of the beautiful city lies a coastline of 70 km, whose variety is surprising. Follow us: from the Serra del Re in the Nebrodi, the Simeto receives the water of the Saracen stream and then flows for a hundred miles, and then flow into the Ionian, twelve kilometers south of Catania. From the mouth to the port of Catania there is a sandy strip of almost nine kilometers. The mouth of the Simeto, with its natural ponds, loops and marshes, is the protected site of migratory and permanent birds. The landscape is pristine, with wide expanses of golden sand, the dunes and a very transparent sea. This is the last stretch - reachable by car and then by foot - of the Playa, the sandy coast on which the people of Catania love to take baths of sea and sun. The beach, well served by public transport, is dotted with tourist facilities and bathing establishments, with free beaches and very comfortable tourist villages. A few meters from the shore you can see old fishermen immersed in water up to the trunk, intent to plumb, using l'ingegnu (a triangle rake with a net), the shallow backdrop in search of mussels, better, tellines: eat them raw and savor the Jonio. Behind a large area of green, the famous grove of Playa: 338,000 square meters. of pines. The sandy beach ends at the port of the central port of Catania: from here starts the lava cliff, very suggestive, which from the port to the train station is called Armisi.

The nineteenth-century chimneys of the extraordinary zolfifera season of Sicily still stand out, during which Catania became a master in the sulfur transformation activity: a Manchester island. Crouched at the foot of the ancient boast chimneys, from the sea there is a gigantic "cutulisciu": a huge pebble, round and smoothed by the sea, black with lava. A tribute to the sea and Etna, a safeguard of ancient memories and an archeology of the reuse wanted by architect Giacomo Leone, who was responsible for building the Viale Africa Trade Fair Center. Further on, the seaside resorts rise on the rocks that lead from Piazza Europa to San Giovanni li Cuti, an old fishing village with a small beach of black sand and lava pebbles among the rocks. Then, past the black cliff of the Rotolo, you will discover the fishing village of Ognina, once the natural harbor (that Plinio called Ulisse port) of the city of Catania. If you are fond of fishing, do not despair: with a little luck and patience it is possible, in some places, to try the big shot.