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Sicily’s women savour freedom and faith at Feast of Saint Agatha
In photos

Sicily unveiled

Every February at the feast of Saint Agatha, women celebrate their freedom as Italy honours its Catholic traditions

Photography by Goran TomasevicCatania, Italy
The Globe and Mail
While faraway Milan was getting ready for its Olympic celebrations this week, Catania was already in a festive spirit for the Feast of St. Agatha, one of the biggest religious festivals in the world. Devotees in white tunics and black caps come every Feb. 3 to Feb. 5.
According to legend, Agatha of Sicily died in prison in 251 AD after refusing to marry a Roman politician because of her Christian beliefs. For the feast day, Catanians carry her relics through the town.
In the centuries after Agatha’s death, her festival was a time when Sicilian women – normally beholden to their male relatives and forbidden from exploring the city alone – could go out and talk to anyone, winking through their veils in exchange for gifts.
In recent versions of the festival, veiled dancers called ’ntuppatedde have reinterpreted that history of female emancipation.

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