Catania (pronounced [kaˈta(ː)nja], Greek: Κατάνη – Katáni; Latin: Catăna and Catĭna) is an Italian city on the east coast of Sicily facing the Ionian Sea, between Messina and Syracuse. It is the capital of the eponymous province, and with 298,957 inhabitants (752,895 in the Metropolitan Area) it is the second-largest city in Sicily and the tenth in Italy.
The ancient indigenous population of Sicels named their villages after geographical attribut...
more
Catania (pronounced [kaˈta(ː)nja], Greek: Κατάνη – Katáni; Latin: Catăna and Catĭna) is an Italian city on the east coast of Sicily facing the Ionian Sea, between Messina and Syracuse. It is the capital of the eponymous province, and with 298,957 inhabitants (752,895 in the Metropolitan Area) it is the second-largest city in Sicily and the tenth in Italy.
The ancient indigenous population of Sicels named their villages after geographical attributes of the locations. The Siculian word "Katane" means "grater, flaying knife, skinning place" or a "crude tool apt to pare". This name was adopted by Greek colonists. Other translations for the name are "harsh lands," "uneven ground," "sharp stones," and "rugged or rough soil".
Such last variety of senses is easily justifiable since in the centuries the Metropolis of Etna has always been rebuilt and set inside its typical black lavic landscape.
Around 729 BC, the archaic village of Katane became the Chalcidian colony of Katánē where all the...
less
