A left turn from the Via Crociferi in Catania leads into the Via Gesuiti, which opens into the Piazza Dante. Here, on the site of the Greek acropolis, the Benedictines in 1702 began the building of the Church of San Nicoló and the monastic buildings attached to it, which, while being amongst the most extensive in Europe, still, despite the long period of construction, remain a fragment.
The work on the church continued until the end of the 18th century. The unfinished facade is characterized by pairs of massive columns left incomplete on raised plinths. A large dome surmounts the plain, three-aisled interior, which, besides a meridian of 1841 in the transept, contains 18th century choir stalls and the great organ made famous by Goethe (built by Donato del Piano between 1755 and 1767). From the dome there is a beautiful view as far as Mount Etna (to go up into the dome apply to the sexton). The former monastery, to the left of the church, displays a rich facade with rusticated pilasters and sculptured window decorations, as well as two charming inner courtyards (four were originally planned).
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