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On this site you will find information on Hotels In Catania Sicily Italy where you can search and contact property owners and managers directly and make your arrangements for your accommodation.

The history of Catania, like any other place in the Mediterranean, is made up by the sequence of cultures passing through, conquering and being conquered by the locals, all leaving their mark in every aspect of life. It was founded by the Greek Chalsidian people in 729 b.c.. After some fierce battles the Siracusans conquered the city and ruled it for many centuries. Eventually and inevitably for the times, Catania ended in the hands of first the Romans and subequently the Byzantines. Next, it was the turn of the Arabs , who arrived in 827 A.D., and 200 years later the Normans paid a visit.

In 1169 the city suffered from a terrible earthquake, and while reconstructing it the locals had to also deal with the aspirations of first Henry the VI and subsequently the Spanish. During the Spanish rule, under Frederic III of Aragon, Catania underwent a cultural revival, symbolised by the founding of the University of Catania in 1434, then called the 'Siculorum Gymnasium'. In 1669 a violent eruption of Etna reminded people of the fickleness of life, and the locals were once more faced with the task of reconstruction.

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