Editing Catania (section)

===Early modern times===

[[File:Etna eruzione 1669 platania.jpg|thumb|right|Mount Etna erupting in 1669]]
With the unification of Castile and Aragon (early 16th century<ref>[[Ferdinand II of Aragon]] became [[King of Naples]] as Ferdinand III, reuniting Naples with Sicily permanently and for the first time since 1458.</ref>), Sicily became part of the Spanish Empire. It rebelled against the foreign government in 1516 and 1647.<ref>[http://freaknet.org/martin/libri/Longo/revolution.html Translation of an eye-witness account of the 1647 rebellion]</ref>

In 1669 the city's surroundings suffered great material damage from the [[1669 Etna eruption]]. The city itself was largely saved by its walls that diverted most of the lava into the port. Afterwards, in 1693 the city was nearly completely destroyed by a heavy [[1693 Sicily earthquake]] and its aftershocks. The city was then rebuilt in the [[Baroque architecture]] that nowadays characterizes it.