The synthesis of organized mesoporous aluminas has opened a very interesting area for application of this type of materials, particularly as catalysts or catalyst supports. This review focuses on the individual synthesis routes to produce organized mesoporous aluminas with large surface areas and narrow pore size distributions, and on the evaluation of their textural, chemical and thermal properties and outlines examples of catalytic applications of organized mesoporous alumina-based catalysts. We tried to rationalize the synthetic approaches to prepare organized mesoporous aluminas, to relate their properties to synthetic procedures used as well as to their catalytic behavior in different reactions. Utilization of various structure-directing agents for "cationic," "neutral," "anionic," "nanocasting," and special approaches leading to scaffolding and lathlike organized mesoporous aluminas is discussed in the first part of this review, as well as textural and structural characterization and thermal stability of mesoporous aluminas synthesized by different synthetic approaches. In the second part, catalytic applications of organized mesoporous aluminas described in the open literature are evaluated from the standpoint of the importance of these reactions for technological applications.