Santa Caterina d'Alessandria, Paternò

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The Church of Santa Caterina d'Alessandria is a Roman Catholic church at the southern edge of Paternò, Sicily, near St Barbara church and the old convent of St Annunziata. It was built from 1725 to 1730 to replace an earlier church damaged by the 1693 earthquake; that older church had housed the brotherhood since 1574. The new church was funded by priest Giacinto Giglio and was consecrated on October 6, 1730. The facade and bell tower were added in the mid-1700s, and marble altars were built between 1774 and 1792, with a marble inlaid floor laid around 1803–04. The church was damaged by English air raids in 1943 and repaired after the war; it was later damaged by earthquakes in 1990 and 2002 but was restored and reopened with help from the Sicilian Civil Protection. Saints Alphius, Philadelphus and Cyrinus are venerated there. Architecturally, the church has an octagonal plan with a long interior axis from the vestibule to the presbytery, a marble inlaid floor, and Tuscan pilasters supporting the ceiling. There are altars on the four sides and a main altar on a raised platform; a crypt can be reached from the vestibule. The exterior features a basalt base and a facade divided by four Tuscan pilasters, with a simple central doorway, a window with a triangular pediment above, and a bell-tower stair leading to a small domed top that mirrors the church’s octagonal shape.