Bastion of Infetti

The bastions were built in Catania in the early sixteenth century by Emperor Charles V of Spain. Along with seven gates, eleven bastions of lava stone designed by the architect Antonio Ferramolino were part of the fortified walls built to defend the city.

Walls, gates and bastions were almost entirely destroyed by the lava flow of 1669 and the earthquake of 1693. The Bastion of Infetti (infected) is the best preserved among the bastions that formed the defensive system of Catania.

Cicero in the Verrines tells that in the place where today are the remains of the bastion there was Ceres Temple, place of cult and pilgrimage.

The name comes from the transformation of the bastion in hospital in 1576, following the plague that struck the city of Catania.

Its remains, including the adjacent Bishop’s Tower, are still visible in the Bishop Street.