The Badia di Sant'Agata is a small baroque church and former convent that sits next to the cathedral on Via Vittorio Emanuele. The exterior, with its concave facade and twin bell towers, is one of the best examples in Catania of the architect Vaccarini's mature style.
The interior is small, with a central dome painted in trompe-l'oeil and an octagonal floor pattern in black-and-white lava and limestone. From the church, a stair leads up to the dome and the roof terrace, which gives one of the best aerial views of the cathedral square and the seafront. The dome climb is the main reason most visitors come.