San Francesco Borgia, Catania

Corresponding to their growing influence, they commissioned a new church dedicated to Saint Ignatius Loyola, a few blocks from here, on the present via Etna, completed by 1578 and designed by Tommaso Blandino.

In 1767, the Jesuit order was expelled from the Kingdom of Naples; the college and church became government property, and were used for diverse schools and charitable organizations.

In 1867, the Collegio building was used to house the Grande Ospizio di Beneficenza, which cared for abandoned infants (esposti) once they reached school age.

The center one over the portal is the titular saint, while the flanking lower two are Ignatius Loyola and Francis Xavier; the upper statues depict Aloysius Gonzaga and Stanislaus Kostka.

[3] The adjacent former Collegio Gesuiti is notable for a Vaccarini courtyard with a white and blackstone decoration, similar to that seen in the Palazzo Cutelli in town.