Cyriaca of Pianella

Saint Cyriaca of Pianella was a girl of twelve or thirteen, a daughter of patricians, killed for the faith in the time of Diocletian and Galerius. Tradition honors her as virgin and martyr. Her commemoration is in the last week of July. Her veneration is local, at Pianella in Italy, and appears in Catholic sources.

She lived in the time of the emperors Diocletian and Galerius, at a time when the Christian religion was strictly forbidden in the Roman Empire, because it confessed faith in one true God, against all the pagan gods. The Serbian source places her in the third century, although the two emperors belong to the late third and the fourth. According to one source, she suffered in fire. She was buried in the catacombs of Priscilla.

Her relics are kept today in the church of Sant'Antonio Abate in Pianella, in the left side chapel under the altar. On both sides stand the statues of the other two patrons of the town: Saint Silvester and Saint Panteleimon. Until 1946 the urn remained under the main altar.