16,000 square meters of land, mostly of lava and Roman origin, 50 kinds of palms and over 2,000 species of other Sicilian spontaneous plants surrounded by a neoclassical colonnade: this is the Botanical Garden of Catania. Founded in 1858 by a Benedictine monk, it is considered today one of the most beautiful gardens in Italy, a year-round destination for visitors with a green thumb, who can admire here precious and rare botanical collections. It is divided into a general garden and a Sicilian garden. In the former there are over 200 specimens of fat plants (the “succulent” ones above all, the best known of which is the “mother-in-law’s pillow”), and magnificent specimens of rare palms with elegant fish-tailed or fan-shaped leaves. In the Sicilian garden, there is the whole island, with flowerbeds in which its wild plants grow: laurel, myrtle, mastic, and sage. You will be captivated by the majesty and the smells of the domestic pine or carob tree, impressive and long-lived. Indeed, the carob tree… once outside, look for the carob candies in the market stalls or in the shops of Sicilian delicacies: they were born in Palermo, but are to be found throughout Sicily and are delicious.
