Catania Main Sights
A tour in the main sights of worship and historic of Sant’Agata in Catania!
AVAILABILITY
ALL YEAR
A guided tour of Catania
Catania main sights
During the persecution decreed by emperor Decius, in the III century AD, a rich and beautiful girl named Agata (from the Greek language, “the good one”) shows the strong will to resist the injunctions of the roman emperor and she faces cruel tortures and even death keeping faithful to her belief in Christ. She was cruelly murdered on the 5th February 251.
The case was so emblematic that not only the Christian community, but the whole town of Catania realizes Agatha’s total devotion to god, so that she becomes the patron saint of the city.
Still today, the feast for Sant’Agata is one of the most important of the Christian world, ant it lasts every year for three days and three nights, at the beginning of February.
See & Discover
The magnificent Cathedral
The celebrations of the Saint
Religion and culture connections
Price & Booking
sicily voyagesChildren prices: 0-3 years free; 3-10 years 10€ discount
Price includes: 2 hours guided tour. No other fees to pay
Program: Catania Main Sights
During this tour we will retrace the stages of the martyrdom, visiting the 4 churches dedicated to Agata.
We’ll start from the cathedral, in Piazza Duomo: here the bust and the reliquary are conserved, in a special “cameredda” (a little room), protected by three different gates, and they exit only the second day of the Celebrations. The cathedral is a very interesting example of “ecclesia munita”, church-fortress, built in the Middle Age, destroyed during two earthquakes and reconstructed in the XVII century.
Once exit from the Cathedral, we’ll start to walk in the huge Via Etnea, the most important street of Catania, and we’ll continue towards piazza Stesicoro, where the other three churches stand: Sant’Agata La Vetere, Sant’Agata al Carcere, Sant’Agata alla Fornace.
Piazza Stesicoro is one of the main squares of the city, where we can also admire a part of the ancient roman amphitheater.
The story of the martyrdom is very interesting, and it’s very important to learn it, in order to deeply understand the real culture of Catania inhabitants, their customs, their traditions.
After the visit we’ll come back to Piazza Duomo, passing though the splendid Piazza Università.
Meeting Point :
