Monastery of St. Nicholas Arena, Catania (must see)

The Monastery of Saint Nicholas Arena is one of the largest Benedictine monasteries in Europe. Founded in 1558, it was established by Benedictine monks whose wealth and noble origins earned the monastery the reputation of being a true “palace for monks”. The name “Arena” does not refer to a Roman amphitheater, but to the red volcanic sand characteristic of the area on the slopes of Mount Etna where the order first settled before moving into the city.

The monastery’s survival through natural disaster is central to its story. During the 1669 eruption of Mount Etna, lava flows reached the complex but did not destroy it; the monks constructed a massive stone bulwark that successfully diverted the lava. The eruption instead raised the ground level around the monastery and reshaped the surrounding landscape. It was the catastrophic earthquake of 1693, not the lava, that flattened much of the structure. Reconstruction began in 1702, with the new monastery built directly over what remained of the earlier complex.

Much of the monastery’s distinctive late-Baroque character, especially the ornate window frames and exuberant southern façade, was shaped by Antonino Amato and Francesco Battaglia. The complex expanded with new cloisters, including the rebuilt Marble Cloister and the newly added Eastern Cloister, complemented by long corridors, staircases, and even a hanging garden. Subterranean spaces preserve visible traces of the 1669 lava flow pressed directly against the monastery walls.

Beside the monastery stands the vast Church of San Nicolò l’Arena, the largest church in Sicily, whose unfinished façade and columns reflect financial strain and political upheaval during the 19th century. Today, as part of the University of Catania and a UNESCO World Heritage Site, the monastery stands as a world-class example of adaptive reuse.