News about the cathedral

The Cathedral, the mother church of the diocese, derives its name from cattedra as it houses the Archbishop? "s chair from where he ? "teaches, celebrates and governs?"
. It is certainly an artistic monument of considerable interest, but first and foremost it is a ?place of prayer?, linked to the presence of God under the Eucharistic species. Named after St. Agatha, it holds her remains inside a chapel dedicated to her, a destination for thousands of faithful who gather there every year to pay homage to their patron saint.
The Basilica majestically overlooks Piazza Duomo, one of the most important late Baroque squares that distinguished the new eighteenth-century urban layout after the reconstruction following the disastrous earthquake of 1693.
In the center of the square stands the very famous ?elephant fountain?, the symbol of the city, an eighteenth-century work by Palermo architect Giambattista Vaccarini (1702-1769) who is credited with the design of most of Catania's eighteenth-century buildings.
An ancient legend about the origin of this symbol says that when Catania was first inhabited, an elephant drove away all the ferocious beasts in the area and the people of Catania, to pay homage to this animal, erected a statue still called, in the local dialect, ?liotru? That dialect term refers to the name of the Catanese Heliodorus, who lived in the 8th century and was burned alive by order of Bishop Leo II the Thaumaturge because, not being designated bishop of the city, he disturbed religious services with magic spells including that of making the stone elephant walk.