A stage on the Piazza Mazzini

Centro: Location and surroundings of this property

Via Giuseppe Garibaldi is one of the most important streets in the historical centre of Catania. It runs from west to east, between Porta Ferdinandea and Piazza del Duomo. Its route is perfectly straight and originates from the central Piazza del Duomo, right at the Fontana dell'Amenano. A few steps away from here you can find the characteristic Piazza Mazzini with its four identical loggias, each consisting of eight white marble columns, which form a quadrangular frame around the perimeter of the site, with the exception of the four street openings. The columns were recovered from Roman ruins. They were placed on elegant cubic plinths of lava stone and on top of them were built round arches to support the terraces of the noble palaces. The square should have housed the Catanese market, but it turned out to be too small. The four buildings, Palazzo Scammacca della Bruca, Palazzo Asmundo di Gisira, Palazzo Peratoner and Palazzo Gagliani, should have complied stylistically with the 18th-century design plans, but instead, from the 19th century onwards, three of the four palaces underwent changes to the second floors, which were fitted with balcony windows instead of simple square frames, and to the plasterwork, which changed from Catanese grey to pink. Only Palazzo Scammacca della Bruca, the first of the four built, remained faithful to the original design. Along the street stand numerous 18th-century palazzi belonging to the nobility and merchant bourgeoisie of the following century. In Via Sant'Anna is the house-museum of the writer Giovanni Verga with furniture, books and objects belonging to the writer. Just before the end, the street crosses the important via del Plebiscito.