{"id":63488,"date":"2022-05-10T20:00:23","date_gmt":"2022-05-10T18:00:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.visitsicily.info\/?p=63488"},"modified":"2023-01-18T15:39:38","modified_gmt":"2023-01-18T14:39:38","slug":"feast-of-santagatha-in-catania","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/visitsicily.altrama.com\/en\/feast-of-santagatha-in-catania\/","title":{"rendered":"Feast of Sant&#8217;Agatha in Catania"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"fusion-fullwidth fullwidth-box fusion-builder-row-1 fusion-flex-container nonhundred-percent-fullwidth non-hundred-percent-height-scrolling\" style=\"--awb-border-radius-top-left:0px;--awb-border-radius-top-right:0px;--awb-border-radius-bottom-right:0px;--awb-border-radius-bottom-left:0px;--awb-flex-wrap:wrap;\" ><div class=\"fusion-builder-row fusion-row fusion-flex-align-items-flex-start fusion-flex-content-wrap\" style=\"max-width:1248px;margin-left: calc(-4% \/ 2 );margin-right: calc(-4% \/ 2 );\"><div class=\"fusion-layout-column fusion_builder_column fusion-builder-column-0 fusion_builder_column_1_1 1_1 fusion-flex-column\" style=\"--awb-bg-size:cover;--awb-width-large:100%;--awb-margin-top-large:0px;--awb-spacing-right-large:1.92%;--awb-margin-bottom-large:0px;--awb-spacing-left-large:1.92%;--awb-width-medium:100%;--awb-spacing-right-medium:1.92%;--awb-spacing-left-medium:1.92%;--awb-width-small:100%;--awb-spacing-right-small:1.92%;--awb-spacing-left-small:1.92%;\"><div class=\"fusion-column-wrapper fusion-flex-justify-content-flex-start fusion-content-layout-column\"><div class=\"fusion-text fusion-text-1\"><p>According to tradition, Agatha was a beautiful young Christian woman from an aristocratic family who lived in Catania in the first half of the 3rd century. She suffered torture and martyrdom for refusing the courtship of governor Quinziano. To defend her faith and moral integrity, she had her breasts torn off and then she was killed.<\/p>\n<p>After her death, the city of Catania was threatened by the violent eruption of <a href=\"\/en\/?p=47430\">Mount Etna<\/a>. To stop the lava from advancing, the inhabitants used the white veil that was placed over Agatha&#8217;s tomb. And here is the miracle: the veil turned red and stopped the eruption on the 5th of February, the anniversary of her martyrdom.<\/p>\n<p>Since then, as a sign of gratitude, Catania is festively decorated with bright lights. Thousands of tourists arrive every year to participate in the celebrations. Sant&#8217;Agata, in her silver <em>ferculum<\/em>, &#8216;a vara, is carried around the town, among her people.<\/p>\n<p>On the first day of the festivities, the civil authorities parade on board the 18th century Senate carriage. The religious and military authorities march in a procession. They all follow the <strong>eleven &#8216;candelore&#8217;<\/strong>. The candelore are heavy wooden constructions, carved and gilded, made by the ancient trade corporations. During the traditional <strong>wax offering<\/strong>, the candelore are carried on the shoulders of strong men. In the evening, the magnificent firework show takes place in Piazza Duomo.<\/p>\n<p>The next day begins with the Aurora Mass, followed by the procession of the ferculum through the streets of the city. The most awaited moment is the so-called <em>cchianata de&#8217; Cappuccini<\/em>. Saint Agatha statue is pulled at a run to <strong>Piazza San Domenico<\/strong>. The faithful citizens wear the traditional white votive costume (<em>&#8216;u saccu<\/em>) and a black headdress, and they wave a handkerchief. During the procession they all call out in a loud voice: <em>&#8220;All devout, all citizens, long live Sant&#8217;Agata!&#8221;<\/em>. The tour of the city ends with the return to the Cathedral at first daylight.<\/p>\n<p><strong>On February the 5th<\/strong>, the celebration continues in the inner part of the city. Entering <strong>via Etnea<\/strong>, the procession reaches <strong>piazza Universit\u00e0<\/strong>, then <strong>piazza Stesicoro<\/strong> and, further on, <strong>Villa Bellini<\/strong>. The <em>ferculum<\/em> arrives late at night in <strong>Piazza Cavour<\/strong>. One of the most characteristic and eagerly awaited moments is the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.citymapsicilia.it\/struttura\/via-sangiuliano\/\"><strong>&#8216;cchianata \u201ci Sangiulianu\u201d<\/strong><\/a> when the devotees pull the very heavy statue at a run. In the early hours of the morning, the Saint returns to the Cathedral, greeted with great affection by the devotees and a magnificent fireworks show.<\/p>\n<p>If we are in <strong>Catania<\/strong> during the festival, we must try the olivette di sant&#8217;Agata: small almond pastries coloured green and covered in sugar. Let&#8217;s taste the <em>cassateddi di Sant&#8217;Aita<\/em>, also known as <em>minnuzzi<\/em>. These small cakes looks like breasts in memory of the martyrdom suffered by the Saint.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":40,"featured_media":35615,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1932,1942],"tags":[],"luogo":[1862],"stagione":[1876],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v22.0 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Feast of Sant&#039;Agatha in Catania - Visit Sicily<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Feast of Sant&#039;Agatha in Catania - Visit Sicily\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/visitsicily.altrama.com\/en\/feast-of-santagatha-in-catania\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Visit Sicily\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/visitsicily.info\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2022-05-10T18:00:23+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-01-18T14:39:38+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/visitsicily.altrama.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/particolare-orizzontale.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"978\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"l.menconi\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@VisitSicilyOP\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@VisitSicilyOP\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"l.menconi\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/visitsicily.altrama.com\/en\/feast-of-santagatha-in-catania\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/visitsicily.altrama.com\/en\/feast-of-santagatha-in-catania\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"l.menconi\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/visitsicily.altrama.com\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/1a99cc56fe7939a769f7de2cd7a198d4\"},\"headline\":\"Feast of Sant&#8217;Agatha in Catania\",\"datePublished\":\"2022-05-10T18:00:23+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-01-18T14:39:38+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/visitsicily.altrama.com\/en\/feast-of-santagatha-in-catania\/\"},\"wordCount\":638,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/visitsicily.altrama.com\/en\/#organization\"},\"articleSection\":[\"Places of Culture\",\"Religious Tourism\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/visitsicily.altrama.com\/en\/feast-of-santagatha-in-catania\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/visitsicily.altrama.com\/en\/feast-of-santagatha-in-catania\/\",\"name\":\"Feast of Sant'Agatha in Catania - 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