Church of San Francesco d'Assisi all'Immacolata

The Church of St. Benedict was built in the 15th century when Benedictine nuns settled on the present site to erect their church. After the Val di Noto earthquake in 1693, the complex was rebuilt from 1704 and completed in 1763 with work on the façade by Giovanni Battista Vaccarini and the interior decoration and fresco painting by Giovanni Tuccari. After the 1943 bombings that hit the building hard, the splendid frescoes painted between 1726 and 1729, largely covered at the end of the 18th century, resurfaced.

The first church of San Francesco Borgia was completed around 1578, probably designed by the Jesuit architect Francesco Schena. The Val di Noto earthquake in 1693 destroyed the Jesuit complex, which was rebuilt on a project by the architect Fra' Angelo Italia on the same site between 1698 and 1736. In 1713, under the direction of the architect Stefano Masuccio, work began on the pillars of the church chapel. In the years 1726 - 1740, work was completed on the interior of the church.

For its dual religious and defensive function (against Saracen incursions), Catania Cathedral was called the fortress church (Ecclesia Munita). The church was dedicated to the city's patron saint, Saint Agatha, by Ansger in 1094. The 1169 earthquake destroyed the vaults and damaged the columns and its exterior walls. The reconstruction was destroyed by the 1693 earthquake, which shook a large part of eastern Sicily hard.