In 1787, Goethe wrote: “To have seen Italy without having seen Sicily is not to have seen Italy at all, for Sicily is the clue to everything.” I’d go one step further and claim it’s impossible to really understand what makes the island tick without visiting Catania.

Located on the east coast of the island, Catania is Sicily’s second-largest city and has been dubbed the Black City because of how prominently basalt features in its baroque architecture. Until recently this Unesco world heritage city, whose beauty can more than compete with its flashier neighbours, Palermo and Taormina, was blighted by organised crime and bad governance.