Via dei Crociferi is the most concentrated stretch of baroque architecture in Catania, running north-south just west of Piazza del Duomo. The street is paved in dark lava stone and lined with the kind of late seventeenth and eighteenth century churches and monasteries that made Catania a UNESCO World Heritage Site for its late-baroque architecture.
The classic move is to walk it slowly from south to north: through the arch by San Benedetto, past the facade of San Francesco Borgia, the curving steps of San Giuliano, and the Collegio dei Gesuiti. Most of the churches are open for at least part of the day; San Giuliano's church-with-attached-convent has unusually good baroque interiors.