Catania Cathedral

Stand in the square for a moment and look down at the paving under your feet. It is dark grey, almost black, and slightly rough. This is lava stone from Mount Etna, the volcano that rises behind the city. Now lift your eyes to the cathedral. Its pale façade looks brighter against all that dark stone. That contrast between black lava and white stone runs through the whole of Catania, and this building shows it more clearly than anything else in the city.

You are looking at the Cathedral of Saint Agatha, the main church of Catania. Agatha is the city's patron saint. According to the early Christian accounts, she was a young woman from Catania. She refused the advances of a Roman official and was tortured and killed in the third century, during a period of persecution of Christians. For more than one and a half thousand years, Catania has organised much of its identity around her. This church is her home.

The first cathedral on this spot was built by the Normans in the late eleventh century. The Normans came originally from northern France. They took Sicily from its Arab rulers, and Count Roger the First ordered a fortified church here. It had thick walls and a solid, defensive shape, because it was built partly as a stronghold. Most of that Norman church is gone now... but not all of it. Keep that in mind, because we will come back to it.

Catania has lived through disasters that few cities would survive. A powerful earthquake in the twelfth century brought down much of the first cathedral. Then, in 1669, a major eruption of Etna sent lava flowing towards the city and over parts of it. And in 1693, an even greater earthquake struck southeastern Sicily. It destroyed most of Catania and killed a very large part of its population. The cathedral collapsed again, almost completely.

What you see in front of you is mostly the response to that last disaster. The city was rebuilt in the late Baroque style, a dramatic and theatrical style of curves, columns and statues. Streets were made wider and straighter, partly so people could escape the next time the ground shook. Because of this rebuilding, Catania is part of a UNESCO World Heritage listing with other late Baroque towns of southeastern Sicily. The cathedral sits at the centre of that story.

The façade was designed by the architect Giovanni Battista Vaccarini in the eighteenth century. Look at its layers. It rises in tiers, with columns at each level and statues along the top. Now look closely at the columns on the lowest level. They are made of granite, and they are older than the church — much older. According to the usual account, they were taken from Roman buildings in Catania, most likely the ancient theatre. So the front of this Christian church stands on pieces of the Roman city.

The statues on the façade show saints connected to Catania. Saint Agatha herself stands at the centre, in the place of honour. Above the main doorway you may also notice carved symbols and decorations linked to her story. Take your time here. In the afternoon, the low sun warms the pale stone, and the shadows make the carving much easier to read than at midday.

Now walk around the building to the back, towards the east. This is the first surprise most visitors miss. Here you can see the curved apses — the rounded ends of the church behind the altar. They are built of dark lava stone, and they look heavy, plain and strong. These are the walls of the Norman cathedral from the eleventh century. They survived the earthquakes when almost everything else fell. Nine hundred years of the city's history are standing in front of you.

The second surprise is under the ground. The Normans did not build on empty land. Beneath and beside the cathedral lie the remains of Roman baths, known as the Achillean Baths. Parts of them can be visited from the square, with a separate entry. You walk down into low, vaulted rooms that are cool and slightly damp. It is a strange feeling. Above you, there is the noise of traffic and church bells. Below, there are Roman pillars in the half-dark.

Step inside the cathedral. The light changes immediately. The interior is wide and calm, with three long aisles. Near the entrance, on the right side, look for a tomb against one of the pillars. This is the grave of Vincenzo Bellini, the opera composer, who was born in Catania in the early nineteenth century. He died in France as a young man. His body was brought home to his city decades later, and Catania still treats him with great affection. Many streets and places here carry his name.

At the far end, to the right of the main altar, is the Chapel of Saint Agatha. Behind a locked and protected area, the cathedral keeps her relics. They are held in a silver reliquary bust made in the fourteenth century, and in a precious chest. The relics have their own story. Tradition says they were taken to Constantinople in the eleventh century, and that two soldiers carried them back to Catania in the twelfth century. Locals still tell this story with pride.

The relics are normally hidden from view. But every February, the city changes completely for the feast of Saint Agatha. For several days, hundreds of thousands of people fill the streets. Many devotees wear a white robe and a black cap. They pull the heavy silver reliquary through Catania on a large cart, often through the night. Candles burn, crowds chant, and the square outside becomes a sea of white. Locals also say that Agatha's veil has protected the city from Etna's lava more than once. That is legend, but people here hold it close.

When you leave, walk to the centre of the square. Here is the fountain of the elephant, also designed by Vaccarini. The elephant is carved from black lava stone and carries an Egyptian-style obelisk on its back. Locals call it u Liotru. It is the symbol of Catania. And just a short walk away, past the old city gate on the southern side of the square, you will hear the shouting of the fish market. On market mornings, the smell of the sea comes up the steps.

Before you go, stand still once more and look at the cathedral from the edge of the square. White stone above, black lava below. Roman columns at the front. Norman walls at the back. Roman baths under the ground. This city has been knocked down again and again, and each time it built again on the same spot. As you walk away, notice how many buildings around you repeat that same pattern... dark stone, pale stone, and a city that refused to move.