Depliant inglese Sant'Agata dei Goti

The Church of St. Agatha of the Goths owes its present title to the fact that in ancient times [around the 6th century] it was the Church of the Goths. These were North European peoples, who had come to Italy, professing the Arian heresy that denied that Jesus Christ was “consubstantial with His Father”.

The period in which this Church was built is not known. The first historically verifiable witness goes back to the years 467-470, when a certain Recimero, the commander of the imperial forces, had the Church embellished with a mosaic in the apse, depicting the Savior, surrounded by His Twelve Apostles. In the first half of the 6th century, when the Arian heresy was finally uprooted, the Church was then abandoned. In the year 592, St. Gregory the Great reopened the Church for Catholic worship, dedicating it to Sts. Sebastian and Agatha. He had the Church decorated with frescoes [or mosaics] commemorating that event found in the Saint’s own composition. The Book of Dialogues, which recalled the wonders occurred in that circumstance.

Later, St. Leo II [795-816] ordered works of restoration and enriched the Church with sacred furniture, then followed in this by St. Leo IV [847-855]. In the 11th and 12th centuries, the Church was the site of a Benedictine monastery. In 1039, Card. John Crescenzi, the Bishop of Palestrina, who would later be buried in this Church, consecrated an altar in the presence of some important members of his family. It is not clear whether it was the main altar or that one dedicated to St. Agatha. In 1048, on the occasion of his monastic profession, Gregory Crescenzi had the relics of the martyrs placed under the main altar. In 1160, the Anti-pope, Victor IV [Octavian Monticello], received the obedience of the Monks of St. Agatha’s. In the 13th century the Church was officiated by the diocesan clergy, and there is no further news regarding the Benedictine community. In 1461, Pius II entrusted the Church to Cardinal Francis Gonzaga, who embellished it with a highly decorative floor, [the traces of which are still evident in the centre]. In the years 1500-1530, the Cardinals Louis Podogataro, Ercole Rangoni, Pirro Gonzaga, Nicholas Ridolfi all had works brought to conclusion in the Church and in its adjoining buildings. In 1566, Card. John Baptist Cicala reconstructed the square portico, right outside the main door. In 1568 the parish was suppressed [the date of its erection is not known], and the Church was entrusted to a community known as the Umiliati, a religious order which some years later was suppressed by the Pope.

In 1579, Gregory XIII granted the Church and its adjoining buildings to the Monks of Montevergine. In 1589, since the apse had collapsed, Card. Frederick Borromeo had it rebuilt and Card. Charles di Lorena was again had frescoes painted in 1599. The following year, the Monastery became an Abbacy. In 1633, Card. Francis Barberini commissioned the ceiling to be installed and the painting of the central nave. In 1636, Card. Anthony Barberini rebuilt the main altar, as well as that of St. Agatha’s, had other improvements done and the entire edifice covered with stucco. In 1703, the organ was completed, as commissioned by Card. Bichi. In 1729, the Monks of Montevergine rebuilt from the foundations the monastery adjacent to the Church. They had the external facade constructed by Francis Ferrari, and brought to completion a few other finishing touches. In 1809, the Monks of Montevergine left the Church and the monastery was entrusted to the Pious Filipini Teachers [1820], and then it became the site of the Irish College, by the decision of Gregory XVI. In 1838, Card. John Francis Marco y Catalan had some works of restoration done. Card. James Antonelli, who was the secretary of State under Pius IX, and the Cardinal Titular of the Church, had his family tomb constructed in the Church, and he renewed the main altar. 1925-1933: in order to extend the buildings of the Bank of Italy, the monastery was tom down, and the Irish College was transferred. The Church was then entrusted by Pius XI to the Congregation of the Sacred Stigmata of Our Lord Jesus Christ, and the adjacent building became the residence of the central government of the Congregation. The Cardinal Titular, Camillo Bisleti, performed the ritual of recognition of the relics of the Holy Greek Martyrs, and the canopy was built over the main altar, making use of some medieval material that had been preserved in the square portico outside the entrance.

1. Façade: project by Francesco Ferrari (1729). With a simple order of double walled pillars, the vertical contour is enhanced by the bending of the tympanum, which frames another triangular tympanum. A cherub sits on it and helps in diminishing the tension of the forms and angles and solves it into a purely decorative manner. On top of the door, the Saint (plastered statue - 18th Cent.) on whose name the church has been built, stands between two cherubs, which link the straight lintel to the mixed line of the ornament. Palm and flowers are woven into a wreath, which is the symbol of martyrdom.

2. Squared portico with lapidary collection. At the centre a well has been built probably on the occasion of the visit of pope Clement VII to his nephew Nicolo Ridolfì (7 th October 1530).

3. The interior is structurally the same since the 5 th Century. 12 columns (among which 4 are walled) hold 14 round-head arches (4 of them are blind). The plastered capitals are the original stone ones with surmounted pulvins. On the top of the arches some medallions have been placed, which picture some Irish Saints (1863). The paintings, recently restored and attributed to Paolo Gismondi, called Paolo Perugino (Perugia, 1612 - Roma, 1685), depict some episodes of the life and death of St. Agatha:

The coffered ceiling was manufactured by Simone Laggi, probably following the design of Domenico Castelli, who oversaw the internal decoration for the Barberini family (1633). The modest modem floor shows traces of the ancient one, dated 15 th Century.

7. Tapestry representing the Greek Martyrs, woven on the occasion of their body recognition of 1933.

8. Altar of St. Agatha, built by Card. L. Podacataro (1504) who placed in it the relics of St. Paulina, Dominanda and companions, martyrs; it was then refurbished by Card. Barberini (1636). The wooden statue of St. Agatha was manufactured by an anonymous artist of the 18 th Century.

9. Main altar and ciborium with 4 ancient columns and original 12 th Century pieces, which had been preserved in the portico and were removed to this place during the 1932 restoration by the Italian Central Bank. The frontal of the altar with the emblem of the Barberini family is preserved in the portico. Under the altar the corpses of the Greek Martyrs are sheltered: Hyppolitos, Adrias, Neon, and Maria (see the inscription in the sanctuary).

10. The sanctuary, which has been renewed in a controversial manner (1931 - 1933), spoils the harmony of the interior. The apse is disfigured by the false 19 th Century marble, which alters the simple baroque features. In the upper part, the painting of St. Agatha in Glory (by G. D. Cerrini or P. Gismondi) takes the place of the ancient mosaic of Recimerus, later substituted by the fresco of the Martyrdom of St. Agatha by G. Rocca (1599): both collapsed.

11. Chapel of St. Gaspar Bertoni (Verona, 1777-1853 - founder of the Congregation of the Stigmatines), who introduces his followers to the Holy Spouses, Mary and Joseph (Patron Saints of the Congregation). On the altar an artistic marble frontal representing the crib has been placed.

12. Entrance to the crypt where the members of the Antonelli family and doctor Remotti (+1961) have been buried: their tombstones are on the floor.

13. Monument to Card. Enrico Dante (+ 1967), who has been buried in the crypt, designed by A. Fattinnanzi.

14. Plastered cenotaph of Card. Carlo Bichi by Carmelo De Dominicis (18 th Cent.).

She was born in Catania and is one of the most famous martyrs of Christian antiquity, together with St. Agnes, the martyr of Rome, and St. Lucy, martyr of Syracuse.According to tradition, she was killed in the year 251, during the persecution of the Emperor Decius, after having rejected the appeals of the matron Aphrodisia, and her daughters. After the amputation of her breast, she was miraculously healed by St. Peter.

A witness of the spread of worship to her is the contemporary presence of at least ten churches dedicated in the Rome of the Middle Ages, of which remain St. Agatha of the Goths, and St. Agatha in Trastevere.

The celebration that is held in Catania end here so, each year on the Feast of the Saint, on the 5th of February, is particularly solemn.

ENGLISH