14 Oct

The 15 and the 16 October the Fai Days are back

Also to Catania the FAI Days are back with the volunteers of the "FAI Ponte tra cultures Catania" group, the first in Sicily, born to promote integration through the artistic heritage, historical, cultural. Tours in several languages will be offered, thanks to the varied nationalities of the volunteers: Japanese, Indians, British, Brazilians and much more.

Beyond 13 local sites will be open to the public on Saturday 15 is Sunday 16 October. It will be possible to explore institutional buildings and access private homes, ville, gardens, museums of sacred art and woods. «Let's start again with the FAI autumn days - concluded Maria Licata, head of the FAI Catania delegation – proposing a path to be discovered, unusual that winds along the whole city and part of the province: a San Gregorio, Acireale and Riposto. Sharing the beauties of collective assets allows us to remember the importance of what surrounds us and that we often take for granted ". The new experimental project "Make our city yours" is also part of the initiative, which aims to create a path with a restitutive and resocializing value for all those who have had a conviction for crimes that have damaged the "Community".

DAYS FAI OF CATANIA

Villa Trigona in Misterbianco (viale Regina Margherita 6, Catania; Saturday and Sunday, 9.30-16.00). Built on a project by the architect Filadelfo Fichera, the villa largely retains its structure. Curate visit at IIS G.B. Vaccarini (Catania).
Etneo Observatory | INGV headquarters (piazza Roma 2, Catania; Saturday and Sunday, 9.30-13.00, 15.00-18.00). Originally part of the Trigona family properties, the villa has long been the seat of the Etneo Observatory, and research and monitoring and seismic and volcanic surveillance activities are carried out in eastern Sicily. Visits by IT Archimede and Liceo Galilei (Catania).
Gallery of Modern Art and Convent of Santa Chiara (via Castello Ursino 26, Catania; Saturday and Sunday, 9.30-13.00, 15.00-18.00). In collaboration with MAD Collectors, the GAM will host an exclusive exhibition of tables by internationally renowned illustrators. Visits by IC Gabelli (Misterbianco).
De Mauro residence (via Gesualdo Clementi 5, Catania; Saturday and Sunday, 9.30-13.00, 15.00-18.00). Well-preserved example of a nineteenth-century residence, an exhibition of reproductions of period clothing will be on display along a route that starts in the mid-18th century. Visits organized by IPSSEOA Wojtyla (Catania).
Basilica of San Nicolò l'Arena (Dante square, Catania; Saturday and Sunday, 9.30-13.00, 15.00-18.00). The large baroque monument houses the Candelore Museum and the Shrine of the Fallen. It will be possible to visit the walkways. Visits by Liceo Cutelli-Salnitro (Catania).
Etna Urban Winery (Saint Gregory of Catania; Saturday and Sunday, 9.30-13.00, 15.00-18.00). The route winds through the urban vineyards. The Palmento del 1790, the Cuba of Vigna Grande, stone seats and countless sunflowers and lava stone stairs. It will also be possible to pass along the precious oak forest of Vigna Grande.
Museum of Zoology (via Androne 81, Catania). The museum saw in the 2021 a complete renovation of its spaces following the most modern principles of zoological museology, eliminating the displays that grouped the animals and using the available space to divide them according to systematic and zoogeographic criteria. Visits organized by Liceo Galilei (Catania).
Catania: an itinerary between the nineteenth and twentieth centuries (walk starting from Villa Trigona in Misterbianco; Saturday and Sunday, ore 16.15, reservation required). The route of the visit aims to highlight aspects of the city that are often undervalued in a context with a strongly baroque imprint, and will end at Dimora De Mauro, inside which it will be possible to attend a conversation about Catania at the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th century.
Walking in the heart of Catania: the Montevergine hill (walk starting from Dimora De Mauro; Saturday and Sunday, ore 10.00; reservation required). The walk allows you to observe and learn about places that, despite being located in the heart of the city, However, they are little known to the general public. From the ancient hospital of Santa Marta, up the Montevergine hill and the church of Santa Marta, skirting important eighteenth-century monuments, you will be able to rediscover the area surrounding this hill full of history of the city of Catania.

FAI DAYS IN ACIREALE

Collegiate Basilica of St. Sebastiano and Museum of Sacred Art (Piazza San Sebastiano, Acireale; 15.30-18.30; Sunday 9.00-13.00, 15.30-18.30, break during the Mass 11.00). On this site it will be possible to admire both the interior of the Church, the largest in the city, declared in 2003 by UNESCO “monument messenger of a culture of peace”; both the museum of sacred art, il MUBASS. Visits organized by Liceo Archimede (Acireale).
Church of Sant'Antonio di Padova (via Vittorio Emanuele, Acireale; Saturday and Sunday, 10.00-13.00, 15.00-18.00, break on Sunday during the Mass of 10.30). Visitors will be able to admire the late-Gothic portal and other features of an important testimony to the history of the city. Visits organized by Liceo Archimede (Acireale).
Cathedral of Acireale: chapel of Santa Venera and Meridiana (Saturday and Sunday, 15.00-18.00). The object of the visit is the baroque Royal Chapel of Santa Venera, which contains the relics of the Saint, reopened a few months ago after a restoration; and the nineteenth-century sundial, sundial marking astronomical noon. Visits organized by Liceo Archimede (Acireale).

DAYS GET IT RESTORED

Unusual unknowns: the unexpected and precious treasure chest of lost time (Saturday and Sunday, 10.00-13.00, 15.00-18.00). Palazzo TAbuso is the historic residence that houses the Riposto Guardia di Finanza Company, but also a small museum center which displays archaeological finds seized by financiers and confiscated by the State, and now returned to collective use, for the first time. Visits organized by the Amari Classical High School (Giarre).

Gives Villa Maria you can easily reach Catania by car and by train (the railway station is just a few meters away) in about 20 minutes. Instead, Acireale can be reached by car in just 15 minutes and by train in 10 minutes.