The furnace

On the place where Saint Agatha suffered the martyrdom of fire stands a small church with a single nave.

Published on:

20 April 2022

Last revision:

7 December 2022

On the place where Saint Agatha suffered the martyrdom of fire stands a small church with a single nave. It is still visible, in the right chapel, through a porthole, the furnace that at the time of persecution was used for torture and that was the place where the martyrdom of Saint Agatha was consummated. The church of the furnace, which the people of Catania also call "Carcara" and which is also dedicated to Saint Blaise, immediately after the fall of the Roman Empire was a simple chapel. In 1098 it was slightly enlarged, but the current dimensions could not be exceeded, because it was prevented by the bastion of the Roman prison that flanked it. It was renovated in 1589 and miraculously preserved from the 1669 eruption. From this place, precious as a historical and religious document, the solemn procession for the offering of wax to the patron saint departs every year on 3 February.