Bastion of Infected in Catania
The Bastion of the Infected in Catania is one of the few testimonies of fortified Catania.
It covers an area of approximately 1,800 square meters in the Antico Corso area, its square perimeter is made up of thick lava stone walls, including what remains of the tower. It was part of a much larger fortification complex, including, beyond the walls, seven gates and eleven bastions and outside the city walls other buildings placed for the protection and surveillance of Catania.
The construction of the impressive system dates back to the sixteenth century; the construction of the doors and ramparts was entrusted to the architect Antonio Ferramolino. The complex entirely enclosed the city. Walls, bastions and gates were partly destroyed shortly after, first by the lava flow of 1669, then by the earthquake of 1693.
The bastion of the infected stands on the hill of Montevergine, an ancient acropolis of Catania, in the area where it is believed that once there was the temple of Ceres.
The Bastion of the Infected was erected in 1556 under the command of Viceroy Vega.
The name has a sad origin: it was soon used as a hospital (1576, the year in which the plague struck the city), together with the nearby Torre del Vescovo.
