The province of Catania (; ) was a

province A province is an administrative division within a country or sovereign state, state. The term derives from the ancient Roman , which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire, Roman Empire's territorial possessions ou ...

in the autonomous island region of

Sicily Sicily (Italian language, Italian and ), officially the Sicilian Region (), is an island in the central Mediterranean Sea, south of the Italian Peninsula in continental Europe and is one of the 20 regions of Italy, regions of Italy. With 4. ...

, Italy. Its capital was the city of

Catania Catania (, , , Sicilian and ) is the second-largest municipality on Sicily, after Palermo, both by area and by population. Despite being the second city of the island, Catania is the center of the most densely populated Sicilian conurbation, wh ...

. It had an area of and a total population of about 1,116,917 as of 31 December 2014. Historically known also as , it included until 1927 a large part of the

province of Enna The province of Enna (; Sicilian: ''pruvincia di Enna''; officially ''libero consorzio comunale di Enna'') is a province in the autonomous island region of Sicily, Italy. It was created in 1927, out of parts of the provinces of Caltanisetta an ...

. It was replaced by the

Metropolitan City of Catania The Metropolitan City of Catania () is a metropolitan city in Sicily, Italy. Its capital is the city of Catania. It replaced the province of Catania and comprises the city of Catania and 57 other communes. It has 1,068,563 inhabitants as of 2025 ...

starting from August 4, 2013.

History

The area of Catania was founded by Greeks in 729 BC. It was conquered by the Romans in the

First Punic War The First Punic War (264–241 BC) was the first of three wars fought between Rome and Carthage, the two main powers of the western Mediterranean in the early 3rd century BC. For 23 years, in the longest continuous conflict and grea ...

, in 263 BC. It had experienced many volcanic eruptions from the

Mount Etna Mount Etna, or simply Etna ( or ; , or ; ; or ), is an active stratovolcano on the east coast of Sicily, Italy, in the Metropolitan City of Catania, between the cities of Messina, Italy, Messina and Catania. It is located above the Conve ...

, of which the first eruption was recorded in 475 BC. It was hit by a devastating earthquake in

1169 Year 1169 ( MCLXIX) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Julian calendar. Events By place Byzantine Empire * Late Summer – Emperor Manuel I Komnenos sends an embassy to Egypt to demand tribute, and threatens the count ...

, which caused an estimated death toll of about 15,000 people in the city of

alone. In 1669, it was also affected by the

1669 Etna eruption The 1669 eruption of Mount Etna is the largest-recorded historical eruption of Mount Etna, the volcano on the east coast of Sicily, Italy. After several weeks of increasing seismic activity that damaged the town of Nicolosi and other settleme ...

. It was hit by another earthquake in

1693 Events January–March * January 11 – The Mount Etna volcano erupts in Italy, causing a devastating earthquake that kills 60,000 people in Sicily and Malta Malta, officially the Republic of Malta, is an island country in Sout ...

, which resulted in the death of about 12,000 people (63% population at the time).

Geography

The province of Catania was one of nine provinces in the island of

, the largest island in the

Mediterranean Sea The Mediterranean Sea ( ) is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the east by the Levant in West Asia, on the north by Anatolia in West Asia and Southern Eur ...

. It met the

Ionian Sea The Ionian Sea (, ; or , ; , ) is an elongated bay of the Mediterranean Sea. It is connected to the Adriatic Sea to the north, and is bounded by Southern Italy, including Basilicata, Calabria, Sicily, and the Salento peninsula to the west, ...

at the northeast. The

province of Caltanissetta The province of Caltanissetta (; or ; officially ''libero consorzio comunale di Caltanissetta'') is a Provinces of Italy, province in the southern part of Sicily, Italy. Following the suppression of the Sicilian provinces, it was replaced in 20 ...

and the

lay to the west, the

province of Ragusa The province of Ragusa (; ) was a province in the autonomous region of Sicily, Italy, located in the southeast of the island. Following the abolition of the Sicilian provinces, it was replaced in 2015 by the Free municipal consortium of Ragusa ...

and the

province of Siracusa The province of Syracuse (; ) was a province in the autonomous island region of Sicily, Italy. Its capital was the city of Syracuse, a town established by Greek colonists arriving from Corinth in the 8th century BC. It had an area of and a tota ...

lay to the south, and the

province of Messina The province of Messina (; ) was a Provinces of Italy, province in the autonomous island region of Sicily, Italy. Its capital was the city of Messina. It was replaced by the Metropolitan City of Messina. Geography Territory It had an area of , ...

lay to the north. It also had the largest active volcano of Europe, Mount Etna. The provincial capital and largest commune was the city of Catania.

Subdivisions

There were 58 ''

comuni A (; : , ) is an administrative division of Italy, roughly equivalent to a township or municipality. It is the third-level administrative division of Italy, after regions () and provinces (). The can also have the City status in Italy, titl ...

'' (: ''

comune A (; : , ) is an administrative division of Italy, roughly equivalent to a township or municipality. It is the third-level administrative division of Italy, after regions () and provinces (). The can also have the City status in Italy, titl ...

'') in the province.

Notes

References

{{Authority control

2015 disestablishments in Italy

History

Geography

Subdivisions

See also

Notes

References