The patron saint of Cattolica Eraclea is Saint Joseph, celebrated on 19 March.
Among the town's religious buildings are the church of Maria Santissima della Mercede, from 1630, the church of Sant'Antonio Abate, from 1608, the church of the Rosario, from 1638, and the church of the Purgatorio, from 1626. The town stands on a sloping plateau at the foot of Monte Sorcio, 13 kilometres from Capo Bianco, where the archaeological site of Eraclea Minoa is located, and looks north over the valley of the river Platani, surrounded by hills ranging from the 400 metres of Monte San Giorgio to the 674 of Monte Giafaglione. In 1874 a royal decree officially changed the municipality's name, then simply called Cattolica, to Cattolica Eraclea, to distinguish it from other towns of the same name and to highlight its link to the nearby ancient Greek city: a name still in use today.
