The lava stone elephant of Catania, which in 1239 became the official symbol of the city was born from ancient legend.

This legend is linked to the historical fact that in the Upper Paleolithic Times, there lived a dwarfed elephant in Sicily. The legend dictates that the first population of Catania were protected from all fierce and dangerous animals by this strangely driven elephant. The people of Catania erected a statue of this elephant in its honour. They called it “Liotru” which is a term indialect for Heliodorus, a catanian erudite of the eighth century who was burnt alive in 778 by the Bishop of Catania Saint Leo II the Miracle-Worker, because, having failed to become the bishop of the city, he disturbed sacred ceremonies with his various magic enchantments, one of which supposedly made the stone elephant walk.

Numerous hypothesises have been made by scientists to explain the origin and meaning of the peculiar stone statue.

The most authentic one is the assumption by the twelfth century Arab geographer Idrisi, who between 1145-1154 described Sicily by the order of Norman king Roger II.
According to Idrisi, the elephant of Catania is a magical statue, a real talisman, that was built in the Byzantine period out of lava stone so as to protect Catania from the dangers of Etna.