Openings of the Chapel of S.Agatha | Pisa

The Sant’Agata Chapel and its garden are open every last Saturday from 4pm to 8pm (summertime) and from 2pm to 4pm (wintertime).

In addition to the usual openings on the last Saturday of the month, the Chapel of Saint Agatha hosts the Christmas nativity scene with openings to the public

The Chapel is located in the apse area of ​​the church of San Paolo a Ripa d’Arno (entrance from via San Paolo) and was restored in 2022 by the Municipality of Pisa, which owns it. It seems that the cult of Sant’Agata probably arrived in Pisa with the liberation of Catania from the Saracens.

The first document attesting to this is that of Pope Honorius II (1126) who allowed the Archbishop of Pisa to celebrate the solemnity of Sant’Agata, on February 5th. On that date and in the two following days, the alleged skull of the saint was displayed, still preserved in the church of San Paolo a Ripa d’Arno.

Its display still aroused great devotion on the part of breastfeeding mothers at the end of the nineteenth century. The importance of the cult is also demonstrated by the octagonal oratory dedicated to her, built within the monastic complex around the middle of the 12th century.