In 1444 the lava was coming down towards the town and stopped: tradition says it was the veil of Saint Agatha, carried in procession by the Dominican friar Pietro Geremia. Since then the town has borne the saint's name, and on the spot where the flow halted the judge Lorenzo D'Arcangelo had the chapel of the Veil built.
In that judge's honour the patron is Saint Lawrence, and the August feast closes with the «unveiling»: the statue rises slowly from behind the altar while the church sings. In via Roma lies the Paternò del Toscano park, a private garden with forty-two varieties of palm, protected since 1993. In 1983 the monthly I Siciliani had its editorial office here. There are 9,829 residents.
Arancino · Pasta alla Norma
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Next up: Saint Lawrence, the patron chosen in honour of the judge who stopped the lava with Saint Agatha's veil, Tuesday 10 August
Nearest airport: Catania Fontanarossa, 10 km away
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📅 Every year, on 10 August (solemn vespers on the evening of the 9th)
Sant'Agata li Battiati celebrates Saint Lawrence on 10 August; according to tradition he was chosen as patron in honour of judge Lorenzo D'Arcangelo, who had the Chapel of the Veil built, where in 1444 Saint Agatha's relic stopped a flow of lava.
Saffron rice, ragù with peas and caciocavallo inside a golden cone-shaped crust: in Catania it is masculine and pointed, and the quarrel with Palermo over the name is serious.
Read more →Straight-line distances from the town centre. Tap a point to open its page.
The closest destinations covered by our editors, with straight-line distance.
Outside Sant'Agata li Battiati, but an easy day trip away.
