Santi Quattro Coronati
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Santi Quattro Coronati is an ancient basilica in Rome. The church dates back to the 4th (or 5th) century, and is devoted to four anonymous saints and martyrs. The complex of the basilica with its two courtyards, the fortified Cardinal Palace with the St. Silvester chapel, and the Monastery with its cosmatesque cloister is built in a silent and green part of Rome, between the Colosseum and San Giovanni in Laterano, in an out-of-time setting.
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[edit] The Santi Quattro Coronati
"Santi Quattro Coronati" means the Four Holy Crowned Ones [i.e. martyrs], and refers to the fact that the saints' names are not known, and therefore referred to with their number, and that they were martyrs, since the crown, together to the branches of palm, is an ancient symbol of martyrdom. According to the Passion of St. Sebastian, the four saints were soldiers who refused to sacrify to Aesculapius, and therefore were killed by order of Emperor Diocletian (284-305). The bodies of the martyrs were buried in the cemetery of Santi Marcellino e Pietro, on the fourth mile of via Labicana, by Pope Miltiades and St Sebastian (whose skull is preserved in the church). Miltiades decided that the martyrs should be venerated with the names of Claudius, Nicostratus, Simpronianus and Castorius; these names — together to a fifth, Simplicius — were those of five Pannonian martyr stonemasons. These martyrs were later identified with the four martyr from Albano, Secundus (or Severus), Severianus, Carpoforus and Vittorinus. The bodies of the martyrs are kept in four ancient sarcophagi in the crypt. According to a lapid dated 1123, the head of one of the four martyrs is buried in Santa Maria in Cosmedin.
[edit] History
The tradition says that the first church was built by Pope Miltiades, in the fourth century, on the north side of the Coelian Hill. It was one of the first churches of Rome, bearing the Titulus Aemilianae from the name of the foudress, who probably owned the elaborate Roman villa present under the church. The church was built at the end of the 6th century, and became an attraction point for ecclesiastiacal buildings whose importance raised because of their proximity to the Lateran Palace, the residence of the Popes in the Middle Ages.
The original church underwent major changes under Pope Leo IV (847-855), who built the crypt under the nave, added to side aisles, and the two chapels of St. Barbara and St. Nicholas. He also built a courtyard in front of the basilica, and a belltower. The new, remarkable basilica was 95 m long and 50 m wide, and was in the Carolingian style.
The church was burned to the ground by the troops of Robert Guiscard, during the Norman Sack of Rome (1084). Pope Paschal II gave up rebuilding the original basilica, and ordered instead to build a smaller one. The new basilica had two courtyards, one in front of the other; the first was the same of the 9th century, while the second was the initial part of the nave. The two aisles were included in the Cardinal Palace (right) and in the Benedictine Monastry founded by Paschal himself (left). The original apse of the basilica was preserved, becoming somehow too large for the new church, whose nave was divided into three parts by means of columns. The new church was consecrated on 20 January 1116.
In the 13th century a Cosmatesque cloister was added. The Cardinal Palace was enlarged by cardinal Stefano Conti, a nephew of Pope Innocent III. Cardinal Conti transformed the palace into a fortress, to protect the Popes in the Lateran during the conflict with the Hohenstaufen emperors. In 1247, the chapel of St Sylvester, on the ground floor of the fortress, was consecrated; it contains frescoes depicting the stories of Pope Silvester I and Emperor Constantine I, among which the un-historical baptism of the emperor. The frescoes were to mark the prevalence of the Church (Pope Silvester) over the Empire (Constantine), in a period of struggle between Pope Innocent IV and the freshly excommunicated Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor.
When the Popes moved to Avignon (14th century), the Cardinal Palace ruined, so that, with the return of the Popes in Rome (Pope Martin V), a restoration was necessary. However, when the Popes transferred from the Lateran Palace to the Vatican City, the basilica lost its importance. In 1564, Pope Pius IV entrusted the basilica and the surrounding buildings to the Augustinians, who still serve it.
The interest in the history of this complex renewed in 1913, thanks to the work of the Fine Arts Superintendent Antonio Muñoz.
[edit] Titulus
Santi Quattro Coronati was the first church in Rome to have a non-Italian titular; Dietrich of Trier was appointed titular in 975 by Pope Benedict VII. The current Cardinal Priest of the Titulus Ss. Quattuor Coronatorum is Cardinal Roger Mahony, Archbishop of Los Angeles. Among the previous titulars are: Pope Leo IV (847), King Henry of Portugal, who, in 1580, donated the magnificent wooden ceiling, and Pope Benedict XV (1914).
[edit] External links
- www.santiquattrocoronati.org, Ss.Quattro Coronati Monastery official website.
- Four Crowned Martyrs - Catholic Encyclopedia article
- Patron Saints: Claudius
[edit] References
- (Italian) Giovanni Sicari, Reliquie Insigni e "Corpi Santi" a Roma, Alma Roma, 1998. Through I santi web site.
- "Santi Quattro Coronati" article on Nyborg site.
- The Basilica of the Santi Quattro Coronati
