The Palazzo degli Elefanti is the town hall of Catania, occupying the entire north side of Piazza del Duomo. It was built in the late seventeenth century, immediately after the 1693 earthquake destroyed the previous town hall, and has served as the seat of city government ever since.
Inside, the courtyard is the standard surprise: a calm cloistered space with two eighteenth-century carriages of the Senate of Catania on permanent display, used once a year in the Sant'Agata procession. The piano nobile holds the council chamber and the Hall of Glasses, an ornate eighteenth-century reception room. Access is during office hours only.