DIANA CINEMA

Now the site of a commercial activity, the cinema was designed by the architect Paolo Lanzerotti after the commission by Baron Filippo Pancari.

The cinema was opened to the public in 1925 and inaugurated with the screening of the film “Maternità” and was later attended from the wealthier classes: among the most evocative historical memories, there is certainly that of an area in front of the cinema animated by taxis and luxurious cars.

The Diana cinema, according to the chronicles of the time, was really avant-garde: the the stage opened with an electric device and allowed the extension of the hall and was also the first catanese multiplex (as well as among the first multiplexes on the national territory). In the large hall there were also two grandstands, in which variety shows were held in addition to film projection. In addition, in the underground hall, there was an additional room intended for the screening of films.

The Diana cinema became successively a red-light cinema, before its closure in 1981 and the reopening of various commercial offices in the years to come.