Our cultural walking tour will start from one of the most interesting remains of the Roman city: the ancient thermal baths. The citizens of the ancient Katane attentively took care of their body. They could use several thermal baths, as highlighted by the remains of the ancient baths in Via della Rotonda, a complex built in late antiquity and characterized by a circular room, covered by a dome supported by eight arches. These baths were converted into a Christian church in the 6th century AD. Another thermal bath is located in Piazza Currò and was partially embedded in the convent of Santa Maria dell’Indirizzo. The thermal complex called Terme Achilliane extends under the cathedral; the rooms of this building are decorated with stucco depicting mythological scenes.
This expert-led private tour, therefore, will continue inside the Cathedral, which contains the remains of the ecclesia munita built in the 11th century. The tour will end admiring another valuable monument of the Swabians in the city of Catania. The Emperor Frederick II, in fact, wanted to create an impressive fortress, called nowadays Castle Ursino, in an area that overlooked the sea in ancient times. The castle, which was surrounded by a lava flow in 1669, houses the Municipal Museum nowadays.
