Piazza Stesicoro

Piazza Stesicoro is one of the main and popular squares of the Old Town beacuse its central location and its proximity to the typical market of “Fera o’ Luni“.
Piazza Stesicoro takes its name from the Greek poet Stesichorus whose tomb was here in Roman times, it is crossed and divided in two parts by the main street of downtown, the via Etnea.

The two sides of the square have different architectural styles. On East stands the monument dedicated to the composer Vincenzo Bellini created by the sculptor Giulio Monteverde in 1882. Behind the monument to Bellini, to late fifties, all existing buildings were demolished and was designed the current Corso Sicilia, where on either sides there are the main Catania financial buildings.

On the other side of the square, under the road surface, about ten meters deep, it’s visible a part of the Roman Amphitheater brought to light in the early twentieth century. In front of the ruins there’s the Church of St. Blaise, also known as the Church of Sant ‘Agatha to the Furnace, this name derives from the relic kept inside, and near in a higher position than the square there’s the “Stock market palace”, now houses the Catania Chamber of Commerce.
To the North from the Roman Amphitheatre is the eighteenth century Palazzo Tezzano, seat of the court until 1953.

Every year, on February 3rd, from Piazza Stesicoro and precisely from the Church of Saint Agatha to the Furnace begin the festivities for the religious patroness with the procession of the offering of the wax to St. Agatha, once known as the procession of the “luminaria” (the term “luminaria” was referred to the offer in wax that all representatives of the city were giving to illuminate the altar of St. Agatha).

Starting from here, through via Etnea and Piazza Duomo, the procession reached the Cathedral of St. Agatha.