Benedictine Monastery of San Nicolò l'Arena

The Benedictine Monastery in Catania is a very special and well maintained piece of history in Catania. I took a group of Americans from my yoga retreat here as part of a cultural excursion to Catania and it was absolutely fabulous. The tour was about an hour long and covered so much history and interesting parts of the property to explore. Our english speaking guide was so passionate and enthusiastic about the history he was sharing with us. He invited questions from the group through out our experience and he was a fountain of information and knowledge. I would recommend this tour to history buffs and skeptics alike.

A tour guide is definitely necessary here. Our tour guide Nicola was so funny and informative. You got all kinds of funny stories and history about this place from 2nd century AD to current time. We even got into the usually not open area thanks to our guide. (Also this museum shop has the best designed souvenirs I have seen so far in Sicily)

We accidentally stumbled across the monastery whilst sightseeing in Catania and managed to join a guided tour. The monastery blew us away and the guide was amazing. Being able to see the evolution of the site from its Roman beginnings in the basement library to the various rebuilding of the earthquakes and eruptions of Etna was fascinating. Of all the churches and sites in Catania, I’d put this on the top of the list.

We did a self-guided tour through the Monastery as at the time we have arrived here (4:30pm) there was seemingly no ticket counter or a tour guide, so we just walked in. You can easily spend hours in this magnificent place just getting lost in the various hidden corners, gardens and intricate corridors and halls. The Monastery is used nowadays by the University of Catania hence you can see a lot of students, with many of the rooms converted to lecture halls. Some of them, including the library, are really impressive. Everyone here seems to be used to tourist visits so no is looking at you strangely. Towering above the Monastery is the impressive dome of the adjacent Saint Nicolas church, so don't forget to visit it as well. Overall, this was an interesting and insightful experience despite not benefitting from a detailed guided tour.

One of the largest monastery in Europe, full of interesting historical sites and ancient ruins; make sure to visit along with a guide; there is 1 every hour and the whole tour takes around 1:20 hours and it’s really worth it.

We really enjoyed our guided visit to the Monastero dei Benedettini (10€). It was fascinating to walk through 2000 years of history, and it’s truly remarkable that such a historic place is now home to a university. It’s one of the most beautiful university campuses I’ve ever seen !

You can't judge a book by its cover nor can you judge this magnificent monastery but the outside. Once inside of this church that is for the monks of the order it is unbelievably beautiful. I highly recommend visiting it if you come to Catania.

The most amazing guided tour of a wonderful heritage building with more than two thousand years of hidden histories. The guide was extremely professional and well informed. These gems really show up the glorious past of the city of Catania. Well worth a visit, or possibly even two.