Festival of Saint Agatha (Catania)

The Festival of Saint Agatha (Italian: La festa di sant'Agata; Sicilian: A fest' 'i sant'Àjita) is the most important religious festival of Catania, Sicily, commemorating the life of the city's patron saint, Agatha of Sicily. It is among the largest Catholic religious festivals in the world, in terms of participants and spectators. It takes place annually from 3 to 5 February, and on 17 August. The earlier dates commemorate the martyrdom of the Catanian saint, while the latter date celebrates the return of her remains from Constantinople, where they had been taken as spoils of war by the Byzantine general George Maniaces and held for 86 years.

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