Nano-Net 2007

Conference Site

The city of Catania.

Catania, a city open to the world, and an important point of reference for the island and its capital. Lively and enterprising, its description in ancient times as the "Athens of the South" has been updated to the equally apt "Milan of the South", two names that that bear witness to the fact that Catania has always kept in step with march of history and progress, assimilating and interpreting new cultural movements. In more recent times it also underwent a rapid economic and industrial growth, which led to a flourishing sulphur processing industry.

Bits of history.

This city of just over three hundred thousand inhabitants was founded on the lava mantle of Etna.s slopes in the 7th century BC. It grew under the Romans and then the Normans, and several times it proved its resilience by recovering from ferocious sackings and devastating earthquakes . especially that of 1693, when the city was razed to the ground. The then Viceroy ordered its reconstruction, and the city once again arose from the ashes of the disaster . a great task that left Catania a striking eighteenth century appearance, full of ornate spiral scrolls and baroque exuberance. This hardiness and strength is reflected in the choice of emblem for the city, a lava elephant, a powerful, solid, patient animal whose effigy decorates the monumental fountain in Piazza Dante, recalling ancient oriental cults and embodying the city folks. stubborn toughness, so often tested by natural adversity. At the beginning of the twentieth century Catania was also a white hot crucible of art and culture, cradle of an intelligentsia that loved to gather in the "caffè della capigliatura" or the "teachers. bars". The city is full of beauty and memories that entice the visitor into leisurely strolls, in search of churches, secluded monasteries and corners suffused with artistic charm. But above all they demand to be looked at through different eyes, that seek to discover in them the secret of Catania.s pulsing, enviable vitality . the quality of an open-hearted city.

What to see:

On the way of Bellini, a tour in Catania
RICORDANDO BELLINI. Illustrious guides seem to accompany the traveller throughout Catania . like Giovanni Verga, whose works burn with all the intensity of the Sicily of the past, or Luigi Capuana, a poet and storyteller who was the precursor of the Verismo movement. But in 2001, the greatest guide will be Vincenzo Bellini, a musician whose bicentenary is celebrated this year. A truly talented artist, he began to study music at an early age under his father.s tutelage, and at seven years old had already written several pieces of sacred music. After the early operas . Il Pirata in 1827, La Straniera in 1829, I Capuleti e I Montecchi in 1830 . he had his first triumphant success in 1831 with La Sonnambula, performed at the Carcano theatre in Milan, a glory immediately followed by his Norma, also in 1831, at Milan.s La Scala. This, however, was badly received at the time, although it was later reassessed, contributing to the young composer.s fame in London and Paris, where in 1833 he was invited to conduct his own works, to widespread public approval. He moved to Puteaux, near Paris, where he met Rossini and Chopin, composing the opera I Puritani in 1835. Eight months later, on 23rd September 1835, Vincenzo Bellini died at the tragically early age of thirty four. His remains were transferred to his native city in 1876 and laid to rest in the cathedral. Catania has honoured its famous native composer by naming a park after him, as well as the principle theatre, a music school and a home museum at number 3, Piazza S. Francesco, where Vicenzo Bellini came into the world.

etna

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