sant’agata festival

the patron of the city

The most important religious celebration in the city is the festival of Sant'Agata, a christian martyr of the III Century after Christ. The story, mixed with legend, says that the young Agata (21 years old) was first tortured (including the removal of her breasts with pliers) and died in prison because of her catholic religion (at that time forbidden by the Roman Empire).

After her death, many miracles are believed to have been performed by the saint, specially the stop of the Etna eruptions on many occasions.

The body of the saint, after having been stolen by the Emperor of the Eastern Roman Empire (in Costantinopole), have been brought back to Catania and put inside a silver bust preserved inside the Cathedral in Catania.

This bust is taken in procession around the city from the 3th to the 5th of February every year, in what is considered the biggest religious catholic festival in the world.

The silver bust is put on a silver chariot (so called "vara") and pulled by hundreds of faithfuls, with 4 big ropes long 100 meters. The faithfuls are dressed in the typical white tunic, with white gloves and black hat, who shout the name of the saint along the way. Before the saint, during the procession, march the 13 so called "candelore", big wooden artifacts that represent the different corporations of the city.

One interesting aspect of the festival is the moment when the saint reaches the steep of Di Sangiuliano. In such steep the faithful pull the chariot running (as it would not be possible to do it with normal speed). It is very emotional moment but also very dangerous, since the small street is occupied by thousands of people and the chariot is extremely heavy. In 2004 a 22 year old faithful, falling on the floor during the run, died due to the many other faithfuls running over his body (impossible to stop during the run).