The Politeama is the city's second opera house, built between 1867 and 1891 in a flamboyant neoclassical style — semicircular portico with twin columns, a bronze quadriga on top, painted ceilings in the auditorium. The piazza in front of it is the social heart of the modern city, with cafe terraces, traffic, and the bronze monument to Garibaldi standing at its centre.
The auditorium is in regular use for orchestral concerts by the Orchestra Sinfonica Siciliana from autumn through spring. Guided tours of the building are infrequent but possible on request. The piazza outside is best in the late evening.