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It was built in 1503 through the interest of the confraternity of the same name, in the place where, according to a local tradition, Saint Anthony of Padua stopped during his journey from Lentini to Vizzini in 1223 (second journey to Sicily). The church, remodeled several times over the centuries, had six Renaissance-style chapels with carvings, one of which is still visible. In addition to the devotion to the titular saint, devotion to the Virgin of Monserrato was cultivated in it, of which a statue made by Matteo Frazzetto in 1583 and then rebuilt in the 18th century (now in the San Nicolò Museum) was kept. The presence of a chapel called the Holy Sepulchre, accompanied by a clay sculptural group depicting the Deposition of Jesus (now disappeared), and a Maltese cross on the façade suggest a connection between the confraternity of this church and some Jerusalemite order. The dome from 1574 with a blind hexagonal lantern that overlooks the presbytery area (former chapel of the Holy Sepulcher) is completely unique: characterized by a ribbed vault on an octagonal base with angular spandrels with projecting steps, it refers to similar solutions of medieval architecture of Sicily, filtered in the light of the new language of the Renaissance imported perhaps, in this case, by Giandomenico and Antonuzzo Gagini active in Militello in those years.
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According to an ancient tradition, supported by documentary evidence, the convent was founded in 1235 by Friar Paolo da Venezia, a disciple of San Francesco d'Assisi, and remained in operation until it was suppressed in 1866. It was one of the first Franciscan convents in Sicily. Rebuilt several times following calamitous events and the wear and tear of time, only the church remains, as the entire convent building, now dilapidated and unsafe, was demolished in 1964. Of the ancient convent, which essential in its forms, only the compartment of the cistern, some connecting corbels of the colonnaded portico of the cloister and a compartment that is used as a sacristy (presbytery area of the pre-earthquake church of 1693) can be identified. The church, on the other hand, has a simple portal with a carved window in the façade and graceful neoclassical-style stuccoes inside. It used to be embellished with various canvases (some by Filippo Paladini) mainly depicting Franciscan saints, which have been transferred to the "San Nicolò" Museum for safety reasons and better use. On December 8 of each year the feast of the Immaculate Conception of Mary is celebrated, of which a valuable polychrome wooden statue made in 1693 by the sculptor Camillo Confalone is preserved.
It was founded in the Norman age (end of 11th century) on the site of an older Christian cemetery. For centuries it was the parish of the feudal lords of the city and of the militellesi linked by language or socio-economic condition to the dominant ethnic group, beginning with the Normans and Lombards who came to the island following the conquest, or immigrated in the following decades and naturalized as subjects of the Kingdom of Sicily alongside the previous ethnic groups of Siculo-Greeks, Arabs and Jews. Destroyed and rebuilt several times over the centuries, it was abandoned in the exercise of parish functions due to the damage caused by the earthquake of 1693.
The church and the first recluse were built at the beginning of the 16th century, thanks to the offers of Militello devotees who wanted to erect a church dedicated to the martyr from Catania in their city. A "contrada of Sant'Agata" is mentioned in a deed of the notary Matteo Mancarello di Militello dated 1514. This initiative, a few decades later, was taken up by the lords of the city who equipped the prison and used it as a boarding school for "poor old maids". Partially damaged by the earthquake of 1693, the monastery was repaired and enlarged in 1695 by Prince Carlo Maria Carafa Branciforte, Marquis of Militello, who installed the cloistered Benedictine nuns there. The facade of the church was instead rebuilt in the late 18th century with carving in neoclassical forms, however remaining incomplete. In 1869, expelled the nuns following the suppression of religious orders by the Italian State, the premises of the monastery were sold to private individuals who obtained homes (some structures of the ancient monastery are still visible on the back from a courtyard in via Clausura), the church instead it was redeemed and transferred ownership to the matrix. The hall interior, essential in the decorations, houses the valuable 17th-century chapel of the main altar in polychrome stone in the Mannerist style (similar to the chapel of the main altar of the church of Purgatorio and to the chapel of the Nativity of Santa Maria la Vetere), this it frames the statue with a fern of the Madonna delle Grazie. The 17th-century statues of Sant'Agata and San Benedetto are also kept inside.
The convent of the Capuchin friars of Militello was commissioned in 1575 by Caterina Barresi, a few years after the death of her brother Vincenzo, first Marquis of Militello. Next to the convent there was already a small church which however was rebuilt in 1582. The building withstood the tremors of 1693, the few ruined parts were rebuilt and completed in 1709. The church with a single nave has several carved chapels and an extraordinary high altar in wood that frames the superb altarpiece with Santa Maria degli Angeli and six saints painted in 1612 by Filippo Paladini. The altarpiece also hides a rich carved reliquary from 1777 with over 500 relics of saints. In an altar of the church the body of San Feliciano Martire is displayed, brought here from Rome. In the past, the convent was the seat of the novitiate and housed various provincial chapters of the Order. In this church, near the altar of the Madonna, the Servant of God Father Biagio da Caltanissetta (1634-1684), a Capuchin preacher, famous during his lifetime for numerous miracles, is buried. Following the suppression of 1866, the building became state property but was redeemed. Until the early 1980s, it was still inhabited by friars. Due to lack of monks, the church, property of the Capuchin Province of Syracuse, has been entrusted to the monks of the Capuchin convent of Augusta (SR), who celebrate Mass there once a month. The convent, on the other hand, is entrusted on loan for use to a private charitable institution.
Fontana della Ninfa Zizza
It was built in 1607 in the southern courtyard of the castle to celebrate the construction of the first aqueduct of Militello, commissioned by Prince Francesco Branciforte. Mannerist in shape with an octagonal basin, in which one could admire the precious marble bas-relief depicting the Ninfa Zizza by Giandomenico Gagini. The original bas-relief, for the purpose of its greater protection, has been replaced by a plaster copy.
Chiesa del Purgatorio
Dedicated to Saints Vitus and Gregory the Great, but better known as the Purgatory, it was built in 1613 to replace the old church of San Vito, located elsewhere and now in ruins. The elegant intaglio prospectus of 1690 is due to the Militellese master builder Giacomo Barone. Partially damaged by the earthquake of 1693, it was immediately repaired. With a single nave and three altars in all, it is decorated inside with valuable and sumptuous polychrome stuccos with allegorical figures and has a grandiose high altar with steps in gilded wood with zecchino, surmounted by a small throne for the exposition of the Blessed Sacrament.