The Circolo dell’Unione di Catania was founded in 1884 by the Catania elite, still shaken by the memory of the looting and burning of the splendid furnishings of the eighteenth-century “Circle of the Nobles” destroyed on 25 August 1862 by troublemakers when Garibaldi embarked.

To perpetuate a Circle that since 1782 had stood out for its many charitable and cultural activities in favor of citizenship, for the Italian and foreign personalities that were guests there and for the “literary salon”, of which Giovanni Verga was one of the most eminent members, on December 26, 1884, the Circle of the Union 1884 was founded, with “the aim of bringing together those who will be part of it at brilliant conferences”. (Art.1 Statute)

The Circle of Union participates in the life of Catania and the Province in its historical, cultural and artistic aspects; it promotes cultural and social events as well as friendly meetings and hospitality, facilitating relationships with visitors to the City.

The Circle of the Union took up its first headquarters in the same rooms that housed the ancient “Circle of the Nobles” of 1782 at the Palazzo dei Duchi di Carcaci in Via Etnea, already at the time the most elegant and lively part of the city.