If you ask an ordinary tourist to answer where the cities of Catania or Palermo are, the correct answer will rarely sound. Meanwhile, these Italian resorts have a great tourist future. Both are located in Sicily, which was previously known as the country's main mafia island, and is now actively developing the field of recreation and entertainment. Let's try to compare Palermo, the main city of the island, with Catania, its closest competitor in terms of size, population and list of attractions.
Catania or Palermo - where are the best beaches?
The town of Palermo invites guests to its most famous beach - Mondello, its length is more than two kilometers, the sea in these places has an extraordinary shade of azure, looks amazing in photos and videos. There is one drawback - too many people, locals and tourists gather here on weekends or during the high season.
Apart from the sea-green color, there are many attractive moments of relaxation on Mondello: a sandy beach and a well-warming sea, gentle slope and coastal cliffs. Developed infrastructure - sun loungers and umbrellas for rent, water attractions and restaurants on the coast. Nearby is the embankment - a place for meetings, walks, shopping and restaurant "meetings".
The second largest Sicilian resort of Catania has several beaches, located, however, not in the city itself, but in the surrounding area. At the same time, those who love sandy beaches need to go south to the town of La Playa, tourists who dream of visiting unusual beaches - the road to the north. There is Li-Kuti, the so-called lava beach (formed by solidified lava flows of an erupting volcano), besides, it has a magnificent entourage - mysterious rocks.
Entertainment and monuments of history and culture
Among the entertainment in Catania, walks around the city and the historical center, gatherings in restaurants and bars prevail. For athletes, there are opportunities to climb Mount Etna, however, you can climb to the top by car. Next to this extinct volcano are the territories of the National Park, the first in Sicily, where you can go for trekking, a sport better known as hiking.
The town of Catania surprises with a large number of architectural masterpieces from the period of the Roman Empire, including: an amphitheater; an odeon, a circular structure for singers to perform; terms related to different eras and times; Roman forum. There is an acropolis in this town, created by ancient Greek architects, and later buildings, erected in the Middle Ages.
Palermo surprises with the fact that it is difficult to find representatives of Roman (Italian) architecture in it, this commercial port city has absorbed different cultures, accepted representatives of many peoples for temporary and permanent residence. Therefore, in it today you can find palaces erected by the Normans, Arab mosques "redesigned" for churches, old streets reminiscent of Istanbul. Palazzo Normanni (the second name is the Royal Norman Palace) is the main visiting card, at one time it was the residence of the Norman kings, then the Sicilian crowned persons. Today it is a temple in which a daily mass is held, and a museum with excellent displays and interesting artifacts.
The main attractions of the city are collected in the historical center, which is called Quattro Canti and is the second largest in Italy. A very attentive tourist strolling through the city streets and squares will be able to count almost 300 religious buildings, many palaces. Of the interesting city objects, tourists highlight the Capuchin catacombs and the Museum of Islam. Children will love the expositions of the International Puppet Museum, music lovers - the "Massimo" opera house, known not only for its excellent performers. A tourist highlight is the theater staircase, on which the final scenes of the cult saga about Don Vito Corleone, the most famous godfather, were filmed.
Comparison of two important resort cities located in the south of Italy allows us to conclude that Palermo is still ahead in all positions, the second resort is in the role of catching up. Over time, the situation may change dramatically, in the meantime, tourists should go to Palermo who:
- dream of seeing a sea of azure color;
- adore Francis Ford Coppola and his movie The Godfather;
- love to get acquainted with the masterpieces of world architecture;
- feel reverence for religious buildings.
The resort of Catania provides a good rest for those travelers who:
- ready to see an extraordinary lava beach;
- dream of visiting the top of Mount Etna;
- they adore wandering for hours through the ancient streets, looking for monuments from different times;
- are fans of the history of Ancient Rome.
