Santa Agata al Carcere (Saint Agatha at the Prison), sometimes called Santo Carcere or the ''Carcere church'' is a

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

church located on Piazza Santo Carcere #7, in the city of

Catania Catania (, , , Sicilian and ) is the second-largest municipality on Sicily, after Palermo, both by area and by population. Despite being the second city of the island, Catania is the center of the most densely populated Sicilian conurbation, wh ...

Sicily Sicily (Italian language, Italian and ), officially the Sicilian Region (), is an island in the central Mediterranean Sea, south of the Italian Peninsula in continental Europe and is one of the 20 regions of Italy, regions of Italy. With 4. ...

, southern

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

. It is one of three nearly adjacent churches dedicated in honor of St

Agatha of Sicily Agatha of Sicily () is a Christian saint. Her feast is on 5 February. Agatha was born in Catania, part of the Roman Province of Sicily, and was martyred . She is one of several virgin martyrs who are commemorated by name in the Canon of the Ma ...

in this neighborhood, the other two being

Sant'Agata alla Fornace San Biagio, previously called Sant'Agata alla Fornace or ''La Fornace'' or ''Carcara'' is a Neoclassical architecture, Roman Catholic parish church located at the western edge of the Piazza Stesicoro in the quartiere San Biagio della Calcarella, ...

and

Sant'Agata la Vetere Sant’Agata la Vetere is a Roman Catholic church located in the piazza of the same name (along via Santa Maddalena) in Catania, Sicily, southern Italy. East of church and nearby, but facing in the other direction, are two other churches dedicated ...

History and description

The church was rebuilt after being razed, like most of the city, by the

1693 Sicily earthquake The 1693 Sicily earthquake was a natural disaster that struck parts of southern Italy near Sicily, then a territory part of the Crown of Aragon by the Kings of Spain Calabria and Malta, on 11 January at around 21:00 local time. This earthquake was ...

. The portal of the church is said to be the original highly sculpted Romanesque stone portal of the ancient cathedral of Catania. The portal, profusedly decorated by floral and animal depictions, was initially erected in the cathedral during the reign of Ruggero I of Sicily (1031-1101). While the cathedral was destroyed by the earthquake, the portal survived. It was rescued in 1734, and moved initially to the Senatorial palace, and then moved to this church by the architect Giovanni Battista Vaccarini in the mid-18th-century. The only other such arch remaining in Catania is from the ruins of the church of San Giovanni de' Fleres. A broad series of steps lead to the portal, preceded by a balustraded balcony. On the uppermost floor of the facade, housing the church bells, rises a broken

pediment Pediments are a form of gable in classical architecture, usually of a triangular shape. Pediments are placed above the horizontal structure of the cornice (an elaborated lintel), or entablature if supported by columns.Summerson, 130 In an ...

, decorated with a relief depicting Saint Agatha, flanked by two reclining angels offering her the palm of martyrdom. An added detail are the palm fronds decorating the lower volutes of the facade. The church was putatively built in a bastion of the castle that once imprisoned Saint Agatha. Remains of the 15th-century city walls form part of the north side of the church and the base of its facade. They can be seen proceeding east along via Colosseo in front of the facade. The church facade also faces the apse of the church of Sant'Agata alla Fornace (also known a San Biagio), putatively built at the site of the furnace in which Agatha miraculously survived cremation. The apse of the ''Carcere'' church meets with the apse of a third Sant'Agata church in this neighborhood: Sant'Agata la Vetere. Bernardino Nigro

The interior of the church contains a silver chest with her relics, and lava slabs putatively with imprints of her small feet. A placard at the entrance to the prison explains that she stood here, before pushed into her prison cell. The crypt-like putative prison-cell houses a marble statue of a triumphant and healed Agatha. The main altarpiece is a depiction of the ''Martyrdom of Saint Agatha'' by “Bernardino Niger grecus” (1588). The painting depicts the Ancient Roman amphitheater in Catania behind the saint, part of which has been uncovered in Piazza Stesicoro in front of the facade of the adjacent Sant'Agata alla Fornace. Comune of Catania
AA.VV., Quaderno 16. Dipartimento di Architettura e Urbanistica, Catania 1992 and Guida di Catania e provincia, curated by N. Recupero, Catania 1991. copyright Giuseppe Maimone Publisher. A bejeweled half-bust of a plump Agatha, kept in this church is paraded across the city in procession during the Festival of Saint Agatha every February 3-5.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Agata al Carcere 18th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in Italy Roman Catholic churches in Catania