Catania - Castello Ursino 
The castle in Catania originally stood right by the harbor. The great stream of lava of 1669, however, flowed past its west side (it can still be seen there) and pushed the coastline eastwards, with the result that the castle today occupies a spacious site in the middle of a residential area.
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Related Attractions
Museo Civico
The Castello Ursino in Catania houses the Museo Civico (city museum) with finds and collections from the surrounding area. Among the exhibits are many Hellenistic and Roman sculptures, including the torso of a Roman emperor, an Attic ephebe's head (fifth century B.C.), a Hellenistic relief portrayal of Polyphemus being blinded by Odysseus; in addition items of porcelain, fragments of mosaics and inscriptions, a valuable collection of weapons; sculptures from the Middle Ages, Renaissance and the 18th century; on the upper story there is a collection of paintings with works from the 16th to 18th centuries (including Pietro Novelli, Antonello da Saliba, Mattia Preti) as well as smaller antiquities (bronze statues, ceramics and terracotta); in other rooms paintings of the 19th and 20th century Sicilian school are displayed.
