Description
The Church of San Biagio, known to the people of Catania as Sant'Agata alla Fornace or "la Carcarella," closes the west side of Piazza Stesicoro, opposite the remains of the Roman amphitheater: according to tradition it stands on the very spot where Saint Agatha was martyred by fire.
The Neoclassical facade, with paired columns and a triangular pediment, is by the architect Antonino Battaglia. Inside, a single plain nave. The reason to visit is in the right transept: in the Chapel of Saint Agatha, behind glass, the remains of the furnace where the saint is said to have been rolled over burning coals.
Beneath the altar, a Latin inscription says it in a few words: "Here she was turned over among the burning coals." The martyrdom scene is painted above, in Giuseppe Barone's 1938 fresco. The church was rebuilt in the 18th century, after the 1693 earthquake, at the wish of Archbishop Andrea Riggio.
The Neoclassical facade, with paired columns and a triangular pediment, is by the architect Antonino Battaglia. Inside, a single plain nave. The reason to visit is in the right transept: in the Chapel of Saint Agatha, behind glass, the remains of the furnace where the saint is said to have been rolled over burning coals.
Beneath the altar, a Latin inscription says it in a few words: "Here she was turned over among the burning coals." The martyrdom scene is painted above, in Giuseppe Barone's 1938 fresco. The church was rebuilt in the 18th century, after the 1693 earthquake, at the wish of Archbishop Andrea Riggio.