Palazzo dell'Università, Baroque palace in Piazza Universitaria, Catania, Italy

The Palazzo dell'Università is a two-story building with a grand portico and a central courtyard featuring intricate black and white stone patterns. It houses the rector's offices, administrative departments, the Regional Library Giambattista Caruso, and a museum of geology and archaeology.

Construction began in 1696, three years after the earthquake that devastated Catania, built upon the foundations of the previous university building. The palace became a symbol of resuming academic life after the disaster.

The Aula Magna is frescoed by Giovanni Battista Piparo, and on the wall behind the academic podium hangs a tapestry with the coat of arms of the Aragonese dynasty. The university library holds precious codices, incunabula, manuscripts and autograph letters alongside 200,000 volumes. A late-19th-century gallery of 91 portraits of illustrious citizens now forms part of the SiMuA historical-artistic collection.

The building sits in the central Piazza Universitaria and is easy to reach while exploring the city. Visitors can see the courtyards and accessible areas, but should check beforehand which rooms are open since some may be reserved for academic activities.

The university's first courses began on 19 October 1445 with six professors, held in a building beside the Cathedral of Sant'Agata. The present palace dates from 1696, after the 1693 earthquake destroyed the earlier seat at the Ospedale San Marco.