Santa Lucia alla Badia, Baroque church in Piazza Duomo, Syracuse, Italy

Santa Lucia alla Badia is a baroque church standing in a central plaza on Ortygia island, built from limestone with a rectangular interior space and four altars in baroque style. A dome tops the presbytery section, and the facade displays artistic elements connected to the saint's veneration.

A female Benedictine monastery and church existed here by the mid-15th century, possibly refurbished under Isabella I of Castile, on the spot where St Lucy was said to be forced into prostitution. The 1693 earthquake destroyed both; reconstruction ran from 1695 to 1703 under abbess and architect Luciano Caracciolo, who may have directed only the first storey. The facade was turned from Via Picherali to face Piazza Duomo, and the building was heavily damaged again in World War II.

The facade frieze reads IN HONOREM SANCTAE LUCIAE VIR. & MAR. SIRACUSANA, and above the portal are the symbols of Lucy's martyrdom: column, sword, palm and crown. For centuries nuns freed doves and quails from the balcony on the first Sunday of May, the feast of the Quails of Santa Lucia; a modified ceremony is still staged in Piazza Duomo each December.

The church is deconsecrated and now used for exhibitions and functions, so access depends on the temporary show on view rather than on regular worship hours. It stands on the south corner of Piazza Duomo, facing the cathedral facade; the narrow Via Picherali runs along its former entrance side. The interior is a single nave with a dome over the presbytery.

The nuns of the adjoining convent released doves and quails from the facade balcony for the festival of the "Quails of Santa Lucia" on the first Sunday of May, recalling a 1646 famine when a dove appeared on the bishop's throne. A modified ceremony is still staged in Piazza Duomo each December for the Festa di Santa Lucia.