Torpes of Pisa (''Torpetius, Tropesius'') (, , ) (died 65 AD) is venerated as an early

Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...

martyr A martyr (, ''mártys'', 'witness' Word stem, stem , ''martyr-'') is someone who suffers persecution and death for advocating, renouncing, or refusing to renounce or advocate, a religious belief or other cause as demanded by an external party. In ...

. The town of

Saint-Tropez Saint-Tropez ( , ; ) is a Communes of France, commune in the Var (department), Var departments of France, department and the regions of France, region of Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, Southern France. It is west of Nice and east of Marseille, o ...

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

, is named after him. His legend states that he was martyred during the persecutions of

Nero Nero Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus ( ; born Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus; 15 December AD 37 – 9 June AD 68) was a Roman emperor and the final emperor of the Julio-Claudian dynasty, reigning from AD 54 until his ...

. Most of the accounts about him are considered unreliable. Nothing else is known about his life. He is first mentioned in sources dating from the 9th century.San Torpete (Torpes, Torpè)
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Legend

Elaborations of his legend state that he was a

gladiator A gladiator ( , ) was an armed combatant who entertained audiences in the Roman Republic and Roman Empire in violent confrontations with other gladiators, wild animals, and condemned criminals. Some gladiators were volunteers who risked their ...

knight A knight is a person granted an honorary title of a knighthood by a head of state (including the pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church, or the country, especially in a military capacity. The concept of a knighthood ...

who was an attendant to the Emperor Nero, or head of the emperor's personal bodyguard.History of Saint

His full name was ''Caïus Silvius Torpetius'' and he was a native of

Pisa Pisa ( ; ) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) in Tuscany, Central Italy, straddling the Arno just before it empties into the Ligurian Sea. It is the capital city of the Province of Pisa. Although Pisa is known worldwide for the Leaning Tow ...

. Torpes became a Christian after being converted by

Paul the Apostle Paul, also named Saul of Tarsus, commonly known as Paul the Apostle and Saint Paul, was a Apostles in the New Testament, Christian apostle ( AD) who spread the Ministry of Jesus, teachings of Jesus in the Christianity in the 1st century, first ...

. He professed his faith during a ceremony in which Nero declared

Diana Diana most commonly refers to: * Diana (name), given name (including a list of people with the name) * Diana (mythology), ancient Roman goddess of the hunt and wild animals; later associated with the Moon * Diana, Princess of Wales (1961–1997), ...

to be the creator of the universe. After Torpes declared himself a Christian, Nero did not want to kill him immediately and instead asked him to renounce his faith. When Torpes refused to do so, Nero had him

decapitated Decapitation is the total separation of the head from the body. Such an injury is invariably fatal to humans and all vertebrate animals, since it deprives the brain of oxygenated blood by way of severing through the jugular vein and common ...

. Another variation of the legend states that Torpes left Rome and went to Pisa, but was recognized as a Christian by the local prefect, Satellicus, who had him executed. Torpes’ head was tossed into the

Arno The Arno is a river in the Tuscany region of Italy. It is the most important river of central Italy after the Tiber. Source and route The river originates on Monte Falterona in the Casentino area of the Apennines, and initially takes a sou ...

(and was later claimed by Pisa). His body was placed in a rotten boat with a cock and a dog, which had been placed there in order to nourish themselves on the saint's body. The boat floated towards

Liguria Liguria (; ; , ) is a Regions of Italy, region of north-western Italy; its Capital city, capital is Genoa. Its territory is crossed by the Alps and the Apennine Mountains, Apennines Mountain chain, mountain range and is roughly coextensive with ...

. A holy woman named Celerina (Célèrine) had a premonition in a dream of the arrival of the saint's body, and indeed the boat reached the present-day location of Saint-Tropez, where Celerina lived. The boat landed not far from the present-day sailors'

cemetery A cemetery, burial ground, gravesite, graveyard, or a green space called a memorial park or memorial garden, is a place where the remains of many death, dead people are burial, buried or otherwise entombed. The word ''cemetery'' (from Greek ...

. The body was untouched by both the cock and the dog. The cock flew away towards the village later named Cogolin after it; the dog headed towards the village later named in its honor Grimaud.Villages de Provence Le blog d'andré (dit aussi dédé...)
The local people named their village in honor of him. The theme of the relics being transported across the sea in a small boat is a tale found in the legends of other saints of the region, such as Reparata and Devota. Places on the coasts of Spain and Portugal also declared themselves to be the locations where Torpes' boat had landed. Torpes was venerated in

Genoa Genoa ( ; ; ) is a city in and the capital of the Italian region of Liguria, and the sixth-largest city in Italy. As of 2025, 563,947 people live within the city's administrative limits. While its metropolitan city has 818,651 inhabitan ...

, and

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...

. He became the

patron saint A patron saint, patroness saint, patron hallow or heavenly protector is a saint who in Catholicism, Anglicanism, Eastern Orthodoxy or Oriental Orthodoxy is regarded as the heavenly advocate of a nation, place, craft, activity, class, clan, fa ...

of sailors.

Veneration

The earliest church in Pisa dedicated to him dates from the eleventh century. The

civil code A civil code is a codification of private law relating to property law, property, family law, family, and law of obligations, obligations. A jurisdiction that has a civil code generally also has a code of civil procedure. In some jurisdiction ...

of the

Republic of Pisa The Republic of Pisa () was an independent state existing from the 11th to the 15th century centered on the Tuscan city of Pisa. It rose to become an economic powerhouse, a commercial center whose merchants dominated Mediterranean and Italian t ...

of 1284 established 29 April as the

feast day The calendar of saints is the traditional Christian method of organizing a liturgical year by associating each day with one or more saints and referring to the day as the feast day or feast of said saint. The word "feast" in this context does n ...

of the saint. The Pisans credit Torpes with ending a terrible plague that afflicted the city in 1633. In Genoa, where the cult of Torpes was imported by Pisan merchants, the church of San Torpete is dedicated to the saint. In Saint-Tropez, his bust is honored during the festival of Les Bravades in mid-May and again in mid-June in the festival of ''Les Bravades des Espagnols'', a religious and military celebration commemorating the victory of the Tropezian

militia A militia ( ) is a military or paramilitary force that comprises civilian members, as opposed to a professional standing army of regular, full-time military personnel. Militias may be raised in times of need to support regular troops or se ...

over the

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...

in 1637.Nicola Williams, Catherine Le Nevez, ''Provence and the Cote D' Azur'' (Lonely Planet, 2007), 343.

Notes

External links

LE CHEVALIER TORPES

San Torpete (Torpes, Torpè)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Torpes of Pisa 65 deaths Saints from Roman Italy Gallo-Roman saints 1st-century Christian martyrs Year of birth missing Deaths by decapitation