Piazza Stesicoro is the large open square halfway along Via Etnea, marking the transition between the dense baroque centre to the south and the nineteenth-century city to the north. The Roman amphitheatre sits half-sunken in the middle of the square, behind iron railings.
A statue of Vincenzo Bellini, the Catania-born opera composer, occupies the northern half of the square. The benches around the amphitheatre are a favourite gathering point in the evening.