Chiesa di Sant'Agata al Carcere

Built on the remains of the Bastion of the Holy Prison, belonging to the walls of Charles V (sixteenth century), which defended the north gate of the city, the same place where, according to tradition, was held captive Saint'Agatha before suffering martyrdom. The Church has elements related to different centuries: the facade dates back to the eighteenth century, on original design by Giovan Battista Vaccarini, in Sicilian Baroque style; portal, unic in Sicily in Romanesque Pugliese style, was built with white marble arch supported by six columns and two pillars with biblical figures and symbols. It was built in 1194 at the request of Frederick II, represented on one of the six capitals sitting on a stool. The interior consists of two different bodies: the front, rebuilt after the earthquake, it is Baroque with a barrel vault; while the transept, dating from the eleventh century, is covered by Gothic cruise with ribbed roof. Among the works, an altarpiece on the high altar depicting St. Agatha's Martyrdom, by Bernardino Niger. In the Church it has preserved the case which contained the relics of the Saint reported to Catania from Constantinople, in 1126.