Via Santa Filomena in Catania is located in the historic center and constitutes the heart of the most gourmet addresses that enliven the city’s nightlife. Today, the street is undergoing a major urban redevelopment project, which also includes new furnishings, initiated by a group of restaurateurs, merchants, and accommodation owners who have come together with the goal of giving the area a new face, renaming it the Catanese food district.
A new food district in Catania “Over the years, these 180 meters have become the symbol of a community committed to promoting the cultural and social development of the city,” explains Andrea Graziano, owner of Fud Bottega Sicula and promoter of the Santa Filomena District Committee. “Via Santa Filomena hosts excellent establishments that contribute to portraying a different Sicily, beyond the clichés.”
Santa Filomena District: shopping, food, and culture Santa Filomena District is a place rich in hangouts, restaurants, and shops but also a laboratory for socio-urban experimentation where ideas, events, and actions flourish. On November 18th, the Via Santa Filomena committee inaugurated the lighting of a new illumination system, a video surveillance system, and two light installations with the initiative “Let’s Light Up the Street.”
Once an unsafe and neglected area, it has now become a 180-meter pedestrian area with a green face, and the initiatives are not over. It will soon be equipped with new planters and plants capable of absorbing pollution and cooling the surrounding space.
Culture will play a central role within the Santa Filomena District. It is a container in which various events such as book presentations, art, photography, and design exhibitions, cultural meetings, and wine and food tastings will be held.
The role of entrepreneurs and residents The entrepreneurs and residents of Via Santa Filomena support the enhancement of the common space through the promotion of concepts such as individual and collective responsibility.
“Walking down Via Santa Filomena does not just mean going out to eat but also encountering a reading event or stopping to enter the world of fragrances,” comments Antonio Alessandria of Boudoire 36.
The urban regeneration strategy focuses on initiatives related to maintenance, security, and the transformation of the street into a pedestrian area through self-financing.
“Twelve years ago, when my partner and I opened the bookstore, we sensed the extraordinary potential of this street in telling a story of Sicily but, above all, of a city different from stereotypes,” adds Angelica Sciacca from Libreria Vicolo Stretto.
Participants in the initiative Agricolab, Palinuro, Gourmet Drink, Filomena Domus, B&B Filo15, Il Sale Art Cafè, Moon, Fud Bottega Sicula, Hygge House, Curtigghiu, Boudoir 36, Libreria Vicolo Stretto, L’Horologe, Filomena Suite Apartments, Filohome 44, Ghisa, Polpetteria, Polpetthouse, Dibenedettolight Design.
