Interior of San Giorgio in Velabro (Rome)

San Giorgio in Velabro is a

church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a building for Christian religious activities * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian communal worship * C ...

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 ...

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 ...

, dedicated to St. George. The church is located next to the

Arch of Janus The Arch of Janus is the only quadrifrons triumphal arch preserved in Rome. It was set up at a crossroads at the northeastern limit of the Forum Boarium, close to the Velabrum, over the Cloaca Maxima drain that went from the Forum to the River ...

in the

rione A (; plural: ) is a neighbourhood in several Italian cities. A is a territorial subdivision. The larger administrative subdivisions in Rome are the , with the being used only in the historic centre. The word derives from the Latin , the 14 su ...

of Ripa in the ancient Roman

Velabrum The Velabrum () is the low valley in the city of Rome that connects the Forum with the Forum Boarium, and the Capitoline Hill with the western slope of the Palatine Hill. The name Velabrum may translate to "place of mud." It was believed that befor ...

. According to the founding legend of Rome, the church was built where Roman history began: it is near here that the mythical she-wolf found the mythical babies,

Romulus and Remus In Roman mythology, Romulus and Remus (, ) are twin brothers whose story tells of the events that led to the founding of the city of Rome and the Roman Kingdom by Romulus, following his fratricide of Remus. The image of a she-wolf suckling the ...

. The façade of the church encroaches upon and incorporates the ancient ''

Arcus Argentariorum The Arcus Argentariorum (Latin: ''Arch of the Money-Changers''; in Italian: ''Arco degli Argentari''), is an ancient Roman arch that was partly incorporated in the seventh century into the western wall of the nearby church of San Giorgio al Velab ...

''. San Giorgio in Velabro is the

station church Station days were days of fasting in the early Christian Church, associated with a procession to certain prescribed churches in Rome, where the Mass and Vespers would be celebrated to mark important days of the liturgical year. Although other citi ...

for the first Thursday in

Lent Lent ( la, Quadragesima, 'Fortieth') is a solemn religious observance in the liturgical calendar commemorating the 40 days Jesus spent fasting in the desert and enduring temptation by Satan, according to the Gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke ...

History

An inscription, dated in 461 or 482, found in the catacombs of St. Callixtus, probably refers of a church in the same zone, "LOCVS AVGVSTI LECTORIS DE BELABRV", though there is nothing to connect the lector with S. Giorgio. The first religious building attested in the place of the current basilica is a

diaconia A diaconia was originally an establishment built near a church building, for the care of the poor and distribution of the church's charity in medieval Rome or Naples (the successor to the Roman grain supply system, often standing on the very sites o ...

, funded by

Pope Gregory I 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 ...

. In September or October 598, Pope Gregory wrote to the abbot Marinianus, that, since his monastery was next door to the church of Saint George «Ad sedem», and since the church had fallen into decay, he granted the church to the monastery provided that they repair and keep up the premises, and solemnly observe the liturgical offices. This has been taken as a reference to S. Giorgio in Velabro, though, as Batiffol points out, nowhere else is the phrase «Ad sedem» connected with the Velabrum or San Giorgio. Additionally, the restoration of the church is to be for the purpose of liturgical celebrations, and is to belong to the monastery in perpetuity, not to a cardinal deacon for diaconal activities. The current church was built during the 7th century, possibly by

Pope Leo II Pope Leo II ( – 28 June 683) was the bishop of Rome from 17 August 682 to his death. He is one of the popes of the Byzantine Papacy. Described by a contemporary biographer as both just and learned, he is commemorated as a saint in the Roman Ma ...

(682–683), who dedicated it to

Saint Sebastian Saint Sebastian (in Latin: ''Sebastianus''; Narbo, Gallia Narbonensis, Roman Empire c. AD 255 – Rome, Italia, Roman Empire c. AD 288) was an early Christian saint and martyr. According to traditional belief, he was killed during the Dioclet ...

. The church's plan is irregular, indeed slightly trapezoidal, as a result of the frequent additions to the building. As can be seen from the lower photograph, the interior columns are almost randomly arranged having been taken from sundry Roman temples. The church was inside the Greek quarter of Rome, where Greek-speaking merchants, civil and military officers and monks of the

Byzantine Empire The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...

lived — the nearby

Santa Maria in Cosmedin The Basilica of Saint Mary in Cosmedin ( it, Basilica di Santa Maria in Cosmedin or ''de Schola Graeca'') is a minor basilica church in Rome, Italy. It is located in the rione of Ripa. History According to Byzantine historian Andrew Ekonom ...

, for example, was known as ''in Schola Graeca'' at the time. Pope Zachary (741-752), who was of Greek origin, moved the relic of St. George to here from

Cappadocia Cappadocia or Capadocia (; tr, Kapadokya), is a historical region in Central Anatolia, Turkey. It largely is in the provinces Nevşehir, Kayseri, Aksaray, Kırşehir, Sivas and Niğde. According to Herodotus, in the time of the Ionian Revo ...

, so that this saint had a church dedicated in the West well before the spreading of his worship with the return of the

Crusaders The Crusades were a series of religious wars initiated, supported, and sometimes directed by the Latin Church in the medieval period. The best known of these Crusades are those to the Holy Land in the period between 1095 and 1291 that were in ...

from the East. In 1347, the Roman patriot

Cola Di Rienzo Nicola Gabrini (1313 8 October 1354), commonly known as Cola di Rienzo () or Rienzi, was an Italian politician and leader, who styled himself as the "tribune of the Roman people". Having advocated for the abolition of temporal papal power a ...

posted a manifesto announcing the liberation of Rome on the doors of this church.

Restorations

After a restoration of

Pope Gregory IV Pope Gregory IV ( la, Gregorius IV; died 25 January 844) was the bishop of Rome and ruler of the Papal States from October 827 to his death. His pontificate was notable for the papacy’s attempts to intervene in the quarrels between Emperor Loui ...

(9th century), the church received the addition of the portico and of the tower bell in the first half of the 13th century. The

apse In architecture, an apse (plural apses; from Latin 'arch, vault' from Ancient Greek 'arch'; sometimes written apsis, plural apsides) is a semicircular recess covered with a hemispherical vault or semi-dome, also known as an ''exedra''. In ...

was decorated with

frescoes Fresco (plural ''frescos'' or ''frescoes'') is a technique of mural painting executed upon freshly laid ("wet") lime plaster. Water is used as the vehicle for the dry-powder pigment to merge with the plaster, and with the setting of the plaste ...

Pietro Cavallini Pietro Cavallini (1259 – c. 1330) was an Italian painter and mosaic designer working during the late Middle Ages. Biography Little is known about his biography, though it is known he was from Rome, since he signed ''pictor romanus''. His fir ...

in the 13th century. Between 1923 and 1926, the Superintendent of Monuments of Rome, Antonio Muñoz, completed a more radical restoration programme, with the aim of restoring the building's "medieval character" and freeing it from later additions. This was done by returning the floor to its original level (and so exposing the column bases) reopening the ancient windows that gave light to the central nave, restoring the apsis, and generally removing numerous accretions from the other most recent restorations. During this process, fragments (now displayed on the internal walls) were found, which indicated that a '' schola cantorum'' had existed on the site, which could be attributed to the period of

Car bomb

The building as we see it today is largely a product of the 1920s restoration. However, the explosion, at midnight on 27 July 1993, of a car bomb parked close to the facade, required five years' further restoration. That explosion caused no fatalities but left the 12th century

portico A portico is a porch leading to the entrance of a building, or extended as a colonnade, with a roof structure over a walkway, supported by columns or enclosed by walls. This idea was widely used in ancient Greece and has influenced many cult ...

almost totally collapsed and blew a large opening into the wall of the main church. Serious damage was also inflicted on the residence next door of the Generalate of the Crosiers (

Canons Regular of the Order of the Holy Cross The Crosiers, formally known as the Canons Regular of the Order of the Holy Cross ( la, Canonici Regulares Ordinis Sanctae Crucis), abbreviated OSC, is a Catholic religious order of canons regular of Pontifical Right for men.Deacon A deacon is a member of the diaconate, an office in Christian churches that is generally associated with service of some kind, but which varies among theological and denominational traditions. Major Christian churches, such as the Catholic Churc ...

ry in the reign of

(590–604). * Roscemanno, O.S.B.Cas. (c. 1112 – c. 1128)) * Odo (1132–1161) *Gerardus (1162) (a creation of Victor IV) *Manfred (1163–1173) *Rainerius (1175–1182) * Radulfus Nigellus (1185–c. 1190) *Gregorius de Monte Carello (1190–1210) *Bertinus (Bertramus) (1212–1216) * Pietro Capuano iuniore (1219–1236) * Petrus Capoccius (1244–1250) *Gaufridus of Alatri (1261–1287) *Petrus Peregressus (1288–1289) * Giacomo Stefaneschi (1295–1341) *Giovanni de Caramagno (1350–1361) * Guillaume Bragose (1361–1362) *Jacobus Orsini (1371–1379) (Avignon Obedience, in 1378) * Perinus Tomacelli (1381–1385) (Roman Obedience) *

Pierre de Luxembourg Pierre de Luxembourg (20 July 1369 – 2 July 1387) was a French Catholic prelate who served as the Bishop of Metz, and as a cardinal of the Avignon Obedience from 1384 until his death. Pierre was descended from nobles who secured his entrance i ...

(1384–1387) (Avignon Obedience) *Galeozzo Tarlati de Petramala (1388–1400) (Avignon Obedience) *Michael de Salva (1404–1406) (Avignon Obedience) *Carolus de Urries (1408–1420) (Avignon Obedience) *Oddone Colonna (1405–1417), later

Pope Martin V Pope Martin V ( la, Martinus V; it, Martino V; January/February 1369 – 20 February 1431), born Otto (or Oddone) Colonna, was the head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 11 November 1417 to his death in February 1431. Hi ...

. *

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(1426–1463) ::''vacant'' *

Raffaele Riario Raffaele Sansoni Galeoti Riario (3 May 1461 – 9 July 1521) was an Italian Cardinal of the Renaissance, mainly known as the constructor of the Palazzo della Cancelleria and the person who invited Michelangelo to Rome. He was a patron of the ...

(1477–1480) ::''vacant'' *

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(1517–1519) * Girolamo Grimaldi (1528–1543) * Girolamo Recanati de Capodiferro (1545–1559) *

Giovanni Antonio Serbelloni Giovanni Antonio Serbelloni (also known as Gian Antonio, Gianantonio; 1519–1591) was an Italian Cardinal. Life Giovanni Antonio Serbelloni was born in Milan in 1519 to a prominent family. He was brother of Gabrio (condottiero and general) and G ...

(1560–1565) * Markus Sitticus von Hohenems Altemps (1565–1577) * Giovanni Vincenzo Gonzaga (1578–1583) * Francesco Sforza di Santa Fiora (1584–1585) *

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(1587, Jan.–Sept.) * Ottavio Acquaviva d'Aragona (1591–1593) *

Cinzio Aldobrandini Cinzio Aldobrandini (1551 – 1 January 1610) was an Italian cardinal. Name In some documents he is known as Cinzio Personeni Aldobrandini or Cinzio Passeri Aldobrandini because, after settling in Romagna, the family varied its name according to ...

(1593–1605) *

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(1606–1607) * Giacomo Serra (1611–1615) *

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(1624–1626) *

Giovanni Stefano Donghi Giovanni Stefano Donghi (1608 – 26 November 1669) was an Italian Catholic cardinal. Early life Donghi was born in Genoa in 1608, the son of Bartolomeo Donghi and Giacoma Bernardi. After completing his undergraduate work in the Humanities and Ph ...

(1643–1655) *

Paolo Emilio Rondinini Paolo Emilio Rondinini (1617 – 16 September 1668) was an Italian Catholic Cardinal. Early life and education Rondinini was born in 1617 to Alessandro Rondinini and Felice Zacchia. He was the grandson of Cardinal Laudivio Zacchia (who had b ...

(1655–1656) *

Giancarlo de' Medici Giancarlo de' Medici (24 July 1611 – 22 January 1663) was an Italian cardinal of the House of Medici. He was the second son of Grand Duke Cosimo II of Tuscany and his wife, Maria Maddalena of Austria, and the brother of Ferdinando II de' Medi ...

(1656–1663) * Angelo Celsi (1664–1668) * Paolo Savelli (1669–1670; 1678–1683) * Sigismondo Chigi (1670–1678) * Fulvio Astalli (1686–1688) * Gasparo Cavalieri (1688–1689) *

Giuseppe Renato Imperiali Giuseppe Renato Imperiali (1 May 1651 – 18 February 1737) was an Italian cardinal, and known as an avid bibliophile. Biography He was born in Francavilla Fontana in Apulia, in the Kingdom of Naples, into an aristocratic family which had com ...

(1690–1726–1732) * Agapito Mosca (1732–1743) *

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(1743–1756) *

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(1759–1772) *

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(1773–1777) * Romoaldo Guidi (1778–1780) *

Vincenzo Maria Altieri Vincenzo Maria Altieri (1724–1800) was an Italian Roman Catholic cardinal from 1777 to 1800. He belonged to the Altieri family, one of the noble families of Rome. Biography Vincenzo Maria Altieri was born in Rome on 27 November 1724, the son ...

(1781–1787) *

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(1794–1801) ::''vacant'' *

Tommaso Riario Sforza Tommaso Riario Sforza (8 January 1782 in Naples – 14 March 1857 in Rome) was the Neapolitan Cardinal who, as protodeacon, announced at the end of the 1846 conclave the election of Cardinal Giovanni Mastai-Ferretti as Pope Pius IX. He ...

(1823) ::''vacant'' *

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(1838) ::''vacant'' * Francesco de' Medici di Ottaiano (1856–1857) ::''vacant'' * Antonio Matteucci (1866) ::''vacant'' *

Tommaso Martinelli Tommaso Maria Martinelli (4 February 1827 - 30 March 1888) was a Cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church who served as Prefect of the Congregation of Rites. Tommaso Martinelli was born in the parish of Sant'Anna, Lucca as the son of Cosma Mart ...

(1874–1875) *

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(1879–1890) ::''vacant'' *

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(1914–1915) * Luigi Sincero (1923–1928–1933) *

Giovanni Mercati Giovanni Mercati (17 December 1866 – 23 August 1957) was an Italian cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as archivist of the Vatican Secret Archives and librarian of the Vatican Library from 1936 until his death, and was eleva ...

(1936–1957) * André-Damien-Ferdinand Jullien (1958–1964) *

Benno Gut Benno Gut (1 April 1897 – 8 December 1970) was a Benedictine monk of the Archabbey of Maria Einsiedeln, Switzerland, and a cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship in the Roma ...

, O.S.B. (1967–1970) *

Sergio Pignedoli Sergio Pignedoli (4 June 1910 – 15 June 1980) was a prominent Italian Cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church and a top candidate for pope. He served as auxiliary bishop to Pope Paul VI when he was archbishop of Milan, and as President of the ...

(1973–1980) *

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(1985–1996–2007) *

Gianfranco Ravasi Gianfranco Ravasi (born 18 October 1942) is an Italian prelate of the Catholic Church and a biblical scholar. A cardinal since 2010, he was President of the Pontifical Council for Culture from 2007 to 2022. He headed Milan's Ambrosian Library ...

(2010-2021– )On 5 May 2021 Ravasi was promoted

Cardinal-Priest A cardinal ( la, Sanctae Romanae Ecclesiae cardinalis, literally 'cardinal of the Holy Roman Church') is a senior member of the clergy of the Catholic Church. Cardinals are created by the ruling pope and typically hold the title for life. Col ...

of S. Giorgio.

References

Bibliography

*Batiffol, Pierre (1887)
"Inscriptions byzantines de St-Georges au Vélabre,"
''Mélanges d'archéologie et d'histoire'' VII (Paris: E. Thorin 1887), pp. 419-431. * *Cozza-Luzi, Giuseppe (1899)
"Velabrensia. Studio storico critico sulla chiesa di S. Giorgio in Velabro. Sue memorie ed epigrafe,"
''Bessarione'' Anno IV, Vol. VI (Roma: E. Loescher 1899), pp. 58-95. * * * * Federico di San Pietro, ''Memorie istoriche del sacro tempio, o sia Diaconia di San Giorgio in Velabro'' (Roma: Paolo Giunchi 1791). * * Giannettini, A. and C. Venanzi, ''S. Giorgio al Velabro'' (Roma: Marietti, 1967). * Gurco, Maria Grazia (2003). "The Church of St. George in Velabrum in Rome: techniques of construction, materials and historical transformations," ''Proceedings of the First International Congress on Construction History'' (ed. Santiago Huerta) (Madrid 2003) Vol. 3, pp. 2009-2013. * * Antonio Muñoz (1935). ''Il restauro della basilica di S. Giorgio al Velabro in Roma'' (Roma: Società editrice d'arte illustrata, 1926). * *

External links