Porta Garibaldi
Place of Interest
Porta Garibaldi
Monumental gate in honour of King Ferdinand IV
At the end of Via Garibaldi standing pompously in the middle of the road is the Porta Garibaldi, originally called Porta Ferdinandea. The monumental gate was built in 1768 in honour of King Ferdinand IV and his wife, Maria Carolina, daughter of the Austrian empress Maria Theresa. The two architects, Francesco Battaglia and Stefano Ittar, built the gate out of alternating layers of white limestone and black lava rock. The gate is crowned by a large clock and an eagle.
The monumental gate of honour bears a Latin inscription, which applies to Catania as to no other city: "Melior de cinere surgo" - "Flourishing I rise from the ashes again."
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