San Paride ad Fontem in Teano is an ancient Romanesque-style,

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

church located in the Ternità neighborhood, about 1.5 kilometers southeast of the center of the town of

Teano Teano ( Teanese: ) is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Caserta, Campania, southern Italy, northwest of Caserta on the main line to Rome from Naples. It stands at the southeast foot of an extinct volcano, Rocca Monfina. Its St. Clement's ...

province of Caserta The Province of Caserta ( it, Provincia di Caserta) is a province in the Campania region of southern Italy. Its capital is the city of Caserta, situated about by road north of Naples. The province has an area of , and had a total population of 9 ...

, region of

Campania Campania (, also , , , ) is an administrative Regions of Italy, region of Italy; most of it is in the south-western portion of the Italian peninsula (with the Tyrrhenian Sea to its west), but it also includes the small Phlegraean Islands and the i ...

, southern

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

. It was named ''ad Fontem'' because this low ground once had a spring at which St Paride of Teano (

Paris of Teano Saint Paris or Paris of Teano ( it, San Paride di Teano) (d. 346) was ordained Bishop of Teano by Pope Sylvester I. His feast day is August 5. Many legends exist about him, but the only definite fact seems to be that he was a bishop of Teano. He w ...

), the town's 4th century bishop, preached. Paride bishop, born in Athens, was reputed to have miraculously tamed or killed a dragon living in a cave near town.

History

A church at the site likely dates from the 4th century, since tomb epigraphs from this era have been found here. There may have been earlier Roman buildings here. Originally the cathedral of the land, it was replaced in this function by the

Cathedral of Teano A cathedral is a church that contains the ''cathedra'' () of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually specific to those Christian denominations ...

in 1236. The present building is a Romanesque structure, first mentioned in documents from the early 14th century. The church was constructed using local

tuff Tuff is a type of rock made of volcanic ash ejected from a vent during a volcanic eruption. Following ejection and deposition, the ash is lithified into a solid rock. Rock that contains greater than 75% ash is considered tuff, while rock cont ...

, with three naves ending in a semicircular apse. The façade has four pilasters with

Corinthian capitals The Corinthian order (Greek: Κορινθιακός ρυθμός, Latin: ''Ordo Corinthius'') is the last developed of the three principal classical orders of Ancient Greek architecture and Roman architecture. The other two are the Doric order w ...

likely used in an older building. The portal is simple. The walls are pierced with monofore windows.Cammini Storici
entry on church.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Paride ad Fontem Churches in the province of Caserta Romanesque architecture in Campania