Porta Ostiense mit der Cestiuspyramide 19Jh

San Menna (Italian: ''Saint Menas'') was an ancient church in

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

, formerly located along the

Via Ostiensis The Via Ostiensis ( it, via Ostiense) was an important road in ancient Rome. It ran west from the city of Rome to its important sea port of Ostia Antica, from which it took its name. The road began near the Forum Boarium, ran between the Aventin ...

which led to the

Basilica of Saint Paul The Papal Basilica of Saint Paul Outside the Walls ( it, Basilica Papale di San Paolo fuori le Mura), commonly known as Saint Paul's Outside the Walls, is one of Rome's four major papal basilicas, along with the basilicas of Saint John in the ...

. It appears to have been destroyed at some point after the tenth century.

Location

In the eighth century, the anonymous pilgrim of

Einsiedeln Einsiedeln () is a municipality and district in the canton of Schwyz in Switzerland known for its monastery, the Benedictine Einsiedeln Abbey, established in the 10th century. History Early history There was no permanent settlement in the area p ...

pointed out that there existed a church dedicated to the

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...

ian

martyr A martyr (, ''mártys'', "witness", or , ''marturia'', 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 externa ...

Saint Menas Menas of Egypt (also Mina, Minas, Mena, Meena; el, Άγιος Μηνάς, ; 285 – c. 309), a martyr and wonder-worker, is one of the most well-known Coptic saints in the East and the West, due to the many miracles that are attributed to his i ...

on the Ostian Way, a little before reaching the Basilica of Saint Paul. The church was connected to the famous portico that led from

Porta San Paolo The Porta San Paolo (English: Saint Paul Gate) is one of the southern gates in the 3rd-century Aurelian Walls of Rome, Italy. The Via Ostiense Museum (') is housed within the gatehouse. It is in the Ostiense quarter; just to the west is the Roma ...

into the Ostian Basilica, as is evidenced from the pilgrimage itineraries of the seventh century: ''inde per porticum usque ad ecclesiam Mennae, et de Menna usque ad s. Paulum Apostolum.'' A precise location for the church may be next to a small bridge (''ponticello'') along the ''porticus'' that spanned the

Almone The Almone (Latin: ''Almo'') is a small river of the Ager Romanus, a few miles south of the city of Rome. Today the river is polluted and is channelled to a sewage treatment plant and no longer reaches its natural confluence with the Tiber. Name T ...

, a small river that used to flow into the Tiber from the east, but is today diverted. The church was one of a series of auxiliary structures that were built along the ''porticus'' on the Via Ostiensis. These included an oratory to Saint

Euplius Euplius (Euplus) ( it, Euplo, Euplio, el, Εὖπλος) (d. c. AD 304) is venerated as a martyr and saint by the Eastern Orthodox Church and the Catholic Church. Biography His name in Greek means "good sailing" which is played upon in the text ...

, which had been founded by

Pope Theodore I Pope Theodore I ( la, Theodorus I; died 14 May 649) was the bishop of Rome from 24 November 642 to his death. His pontificate was dominated by the struggle with Monothelitism. Early career According to the ''Liber Pontificalis'', Theodore was a ...

(642–649) next to the gates, and a chapel dedicated to Saints Peter and Paul built by

Pope Donus Pope Donus (died on 11 April 678) was the bishop of Rome from 676 to his death. Few details survive about him or his achievements beyond what is recorded in the '' Liber Pontificalis''. Election Donus was the son of a Roman named Maurice. He be ...

(678–678), which was later connected to the legendary meeting between the two saints before their martyrdom. On the Wednesday after the fourth Sunday of Lent, when the

station Station may refer to: Agriculture * Station (Australian agriculture), a large Australian landholding used for livestock production * Station (New Zealand agriculture), a large New Zealand farm used for grazing by sheep and cattle ** Cattle statio ...

is held at the Basilica of Saint Paul, the ''collecta'' was held at this church of San Menna, meaning that the people and ministers of the city would meet there and prepare for the procession into the principal church for the day's liturgy. Armellini notes that documents of the sixteenth century make no mention of the church's status as a collect church.

History

The church of San Menna was very ancient, being first mentioned in an inscription from the year 589. At around that time, it is recorded that

Gregory the Great Pope Gregory I ( la, Gregorius I; – 12 March 604), commonly known as Saint Gregory the Great, was the bishop of Rome from 3 September 590 to his death. He is known for instigating the first recorded large-scale mission from Rome, the Gregori ...

(590–604) offered one of his ''Homilies on the Gospels'' (XXXVI) there. In his introduction to the homily, he gives a hint as to the relative location of the church: ''quia longius ab urbe digressi sumus, ne ad revertendum tardior hora praepediat''. The church was enriched with gifts by

Pope Paschal I Pope Paschal I ( la, Paschalis I; died 824) was the bishop of Rome and ruler of the Papal States from 25 January 817 to his death in 824. Paschal was a member of an aristocratic Roman family. Before his election to the papacy, he was abbot of St. ...

(817–824) and restored by

Pope Leo IV Pope Leo IV (790 – 17 July 855) was the bishop of Rome and ruler of the Papal States from 10 April 847 to his death. He is remembered for repairing Roman churches that had been damaged during the Arab raid against Rome, and for building the Leon ...

(847–855), as is recorded in the biographies of those popes. Shortly after the tenth century, however, no further mention is made of it.

Bibliography

References and notes

Notes References {{coord missing, Italy

Menna The ancient Egyptian official named Menna carried a number of titles associated with the agricultural estates of the temple of Karnak and the king. Information about Menna comes primarily from his richly decorated tomb ( TT 69) in the necropolis ...

Rome Q. X Ostiense