Catania Things to Do Tips by Polly74

Saint Agatha

Saint Agatha is Catania's Patron and several churches, streets and monuments are dedicated tho the Saint.
Catania, brought back to life after every eruption of the Etna volcano, has bestowed some of the most beautiful churches and monuments to the Patron. On the inside of "S. Agata al Carcere", the III century remains of the gaol, where St. Agatha faced her martyrdom and death, are still to be seen. The Church of "S. Agata alla Fornace" (in piazza Stesicoro) and "S. Agata la Vetere" (the first Cathedral of Catania, and supposedly the first burial-place of the Saint) are non far. Many other places in Catania keep alive the memory of St. Agatha: "Badia S. Agata", the "stele" in piazza dei Martiri, the fountain in via Dusmet, the Norman-baroque Cathedral.
In most of Catanian private houses and in those churches where the Saint is officially venerated, busts of St. Agatha are easy to be found.
The whole province of Catania is rich with works of art dedicated to such a cult: the most famous of them is in Nicolosi, where Cardinal Dusmet saved the city using the veil of St. Agatha to stop lava flows

The Cathedral

Catania has a really magnificent Cathedral.
Though extensively rebuilt on Baroque and neo-classical models, the oldest part of the cathedral (duomo) was constructed
in 1092.
Several royal personages are entombed there, including Frederick III of Aragon and Queen Constance,
wife of Frederick IV .

The Castle

Ursino Castle, located in Piazza Federico di Svevia, at the end of Via Auteri between Via Plebiscito and Via Garibaldi, used to be a coastal fortress before volcanic eruptions extended the coastline. This castle was built by Richard de Lentina on the orders of Emperor Frederick II von Hohenstaufen in the first half of the thirteenth century and subsequently modernized in the manner of those at Messina, Taranto and Bari. It is now a museum open to the public.