Ok so one really important ting in Catania is the festival for there saint 'santa agata' The festival is so massive and insane i've literally never seen anything like that! anyway so there's this old legend that's thousands of years old about a saint who was tortured then killed in the name of her catholic faith and now she's one of the most famous female saints in the catholic world. She was also magical because when whoever tortured her they cut of her boobs but they grew back or something. But it all happened in catania and once when mt etna was errupting, and about to destoy catania some priests brought her veil to the bottom of the volcano and the lava stopped! miracle or what.. the festa means no school and more feasting which i'm happy with, there's even a special deserst called the 'breast of agatha' it looks like a tit and tastes terrible bit quite funny if you ask me! iT LAST 5 DAYS AND HAPPENS in the first week of Feb. So the first thing that happens is the fireworks i think on a thursday! they were so amazing and in the middle of the cathedral square seriously they had no fire hazzard warnings or anything but they were just blowing these massive frieworks off the top of the 500 year old cathedral! that's sicily for ya! anyway so the day after the agatha statue is released from the cathedral and starts her journey around catania tere are all these devotees(thousands and they wear little outfits) who walk behind the statue for 24 hours it's just insane. i saw her release all these people were crying and praying screaming sooo intense then others were just casually smoking and talking on the phone being sicilian. anyway the next morning i got to wake up extra early and go see the nuns sing for here, these are the nuns who never come out of the little nun house accept for this festival! it wasn't actually particuarly moving or anything infact they were rather shocking singers! anyway i was sooo lucky becasue i got to veiw the hole thing form a balcony while the rest of the city were al squashed in this little street. all and all quite a good thing to see as it's so important for catania! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agatha_of_Sicily
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