The Basilica di San Marino is a Catholic church located in the Republic of

San Marino San Marino (, ), officially the Republic of San Marino ( it, Repubblica di San Marino; ), also known as the Most Serene Republic of San Marino ( it, Serenissima Repubblica di San Marino, links=no), is the fifth-smallest country in the world an ...

. While the country has a distinct domination of historic religious buildings of Christian faith, the

basilica In Ancient Roman architecture, a basilica is a large public building with multiple functions, typically built alongside the town's forum. The basilica was in the Latin West equivalent to a stoa in the Greek East. The building gave its name ...

is the main church of the

City of San Marino The City of San Marino ( it, Città di San Marino; also known simply as San Marino and locally as Città) is the capital city of the Republic of San Marino. It has a population of 4,061. It is on the western slopes of San Marino's highest poi ...

. It is situated on Piazzale Domus Plebis in the northeastern edge of the city, adjacent to the Church of St. Peter. It is dedicated to

Saint Marinus Saint Marinus (; it, San Marino) was an Early Christian and the founder of a chapel and monastery in 301 from whose initial community the state of San Marino later grew. Life Tradition holds that he was a stonemason by trade who came from the ...

, the founder and patron of the Republic. The present church was built in 1836 in place of an earlier one that dated to 7th century. It is built in the Neoclassical style, with a

porch A porch (from Old French ''porche'', from Latin ''porticus'' "colonnade", from ''porta'' "passage") is a room or gallery located in front of an entrance of a building. A porch is placed in front of the facade of a building it commands, and form ...

of eight

Corinthian Corinthian or Corinthians may refer to: *Several Pauline epistles, books of the New Testament of the Bible: **First Epistle to the Corinthians **Second Epistle to the Corinthians **Third Epistle to the Corinthians (Orthodox) *A demonym relating to ...

columns.

Relics In religion, a relic is an object or article of religious significance from the past. It usually consists of the physical remains of a saint or the personal effects of the saint or venerated person preserved for purposes of veneration as a tangi ...

of St. Marino are enshrined in the basilica.

History

An earlier church was erected on the spot in the 4th century which was dedicated to the same patron. The first document attesting the existence of the church dates to 530 in the ''

La Vita di San Severino LA most frequently refers to Los Angeles, the second largest city in the United States. La, LA, or L.A. may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * La (musical note), or A, the sixth note * "L.A.", a song by Elliott Smith on ''Figure ...

'' by

Eugippius Eugippius (circa 460 – circa 535, Castellum Lucullanum) was a disciple and the biographer of Saint Severinus of Noricum. After the latter's death in 482, he took the remains to Naples and founded a monastery on the site of a 1st-century Roman ...

. A later document, the '' Placito Feretrano'', dates from 885. The first document that directly relates to the "Pieve di San Marino" is dated 31 July 1113, with donations from the faithful public. At the beginning of the 1800s, the church was in critical condition. In 1807, it was razed and a project for the construction of the new church was handed to the Bolognese Achille Serra. On 24 July 1825, the council decided to build a new church in the place where the old church had stood. Construction began on 28 July 1826 and was completed in 1838. On 5 February 1838, the church was solemnly inaugurated in the presence of the Bishop of

Montefeltro Montefeltro is a historical and geographical region in Marche, which was historically part of Romagna. It gave its name to the House of Montefeltro, Montefeltro family, who ruled in the area during the Middle Ages and the Renaissance. Regions of I ...

Crispino Agostinucci Crispino Agostinucci (October 25, 1797 – 1856) was an Italian Roman Catholic bishop. Born in Urbino, he was appointed as Bishop of Montefeltro on November 5, 1849, a position he held until his death in 1856. On February 5, 1838, the Basili ...

and the Captain's-Regent. On 21 July 1926, it was elevated to the rank of

Basilica In Ancient Roman architecture, a basilica is a large public building with multiple functions, typically built alongside the town's forum. The basilica was in the Latin West equivalent to a stoa in the Greek East. The building gave its name ...

Pius XI Pope Pius XI ( it, Pio XI), born Ambrogio Damiano Achille Ratti (; 31 May 1857 – 10 February 1939), was head of the Catholic Church from 6 February 1922 to his death in February 1939. He was the first sovereign of Vatican City from ...

. The construction cost was 40,150

scudi The ''scudo'' (pl. ''scudi'') was the name for a number of coins used in various states in the Italian peninsula until the 19th century. The name, like that of the French écu and the Spanish and Portuguese escudo, was derived from the Latin ''scu ...

and 76 baiocchi. On 29 August 1982, the basilica was visited by

John Paul II Pope John Paul II ( la, Ioannes Paulus II; it, Giovanni Paolo II; pl, Jan Paweł II; born Karol Józef Wojtyła ; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 1978 until his ...

who blessed the church and the relics related to the deacon of San Marino. The Basilica of San Marino is depicted on the ten-cent editions of the

Sammarinese euro coins Sammarinese euro coins feature separate designs for every coin. All the coins are inscribed with the words "San Marino" and the twelve stars of the EU. The Sammarinese euro coins are minted by Istituto Poligrafico e Zecca dello Stato (IPZS), in R ...

. Over the course of centuries, the basilica has witnessed civil turmoil. Because of this, in 1992, the Vatican made several decrees. These included that the basilica, as the mother-church of all churches within the Republic, is made exempt from the jurisdiction of the parish of the city of San Marino. The basilica is entrusted to the care of a priest who holds the title of

Rector Rector (Latin for the member of a vessel's crew who steers) may refer to: Style or title *Rector (ecclesiastical), a cleric who functions as an administrative leader in some Christian denominations *Rector (academia), a senior official in an edu ...

, and the Rector is appointed and removed in accordance with canon law.

Architecture

The interior of the basilica consists of three

nave The nave () is the central part of a church, stretching from the (normally western) main entrance or rear wall, to the transepts, or in a church without transepts, to the chancel. When a church contains side aisles, as in a basilica-type ...

s, supported by sixteen Corinthian columns which form a large

ambulatory The ambulatory ( la, ambulatorium, ‘walking place’) is the covered passage around a cloister or the processional way around the east end of a cathedral or large church and behind the high altar. The first ambulatory was in France in the 11th ...

around the semicircular

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 ...

. The front porch of 8 columns, six at the front and two either side, has a Latin inscription written above it which reads "DIVO. MARINO. PATRONO. ET. LIBERTATIS. AVCTORI. SEN. P. Q.". The altar is adorned by a statue of St. Marino by

Adamo Tadolini Adamo Tadolini (21 December 1788 – 16 February 1863) was an Italian sculptor. One of a family of sculptors, he studied in Rome with the neo-classical sculptor Antonio Canova and is linked to him in style. Life Adamo was born in Bologna ...

, a student of

Antonio Canova Antonio Canova (; 1 November 1757 – 13 October 1822) was an Italian Neoclassical sculptor, famous for his marble sculptures. Often regarded as the greatest of the Neoclassical artists,. his sculpture was inspired by the Baroque and the cl ...

. Under the altar are relics of St. Marino which were found on 3 March 1586; some relics were donated to the island of

Rab Rab �âːb( dlm, Arba, la, Arba, it, Arbe, german: Arbey) is an island in the northern Dalmatia region in Croatia, located just off the northern Croatian coast in the Adriatic Sea. The island is long, has an area of and 9,328 inhabitants (2 ...

(

Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capit ...

), the birthplace of the saint, on 28 January 1595. A reliquary bust in silver and gold dated to 2 September 1602 lies to the right of altar. In the right aisle is a small altar dedicated to

Mary Magdelene Mary Magdalene (sometimes called Mary of Magdala, or simply the Magdalene or the Madeleine) was a woman who, according to the four canonical gospels, traveled with Jesus as one of his followers and was a witness to his crucifixion and resurre ...

and a painting by

Elisabetta Sirani Elisabetta Sirani (8 January 1638 – 28 August 1665) was an Italian Baroque painter and printmaker who died in unexplained circumstances at the age of 27. She was a pioneering female artist in early modern Bologna, who established an academy fo ...

, on the subject '' Noli me tangere''.

Chiesa di San Pietro

The Chiesa di San Pietro is located at the Basilica of San Marino, to the side of the front steps. It was originally built in 600. It houses a valuable altar with inlaid marble, donated by the musician

Antonio Tedeschi Antonio is a masculine given name of Etruscan origin deriving from the root name Antonius. It is a common name among Romance language-speaking populations as well as the Balkans and Lusophone Africa. It has been among the top 400 most popular male ...

in 1689, which is surmounted by a statue dedicated to

St. Peter ) (Simeon, Simon) , birth_date = , birth_place = Bethsaida, Gaulanitis, Syria, Roman Empire , death_date = Between AD 64–68 , death_place = probably Vatican Hill, Rome, Italia, Roman Empire , parents = John (or Jonah; Jona) , occupation ...

Enrico Saroldi Enrico Saroldi (March 19, 1878 – 1954) was an Italian sculptor and medallist. Saroldi was born in Carmagnola Carmagnola (; pms, Carmagnòla ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Metropolitan City of Turin in the Italian region Piedmont, ...

. In the crypt of this church there are two niches cut into rock that are said to be the beds of San Marino and

San Leo San Leo ( rgn, San Lé) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Rimini in the Italian region Emilia-Romagna, located about southeast of Bologna and about southwest of Rimini. Geography San Leo borders the following municipalities: ...

. Inside is a monument to

Pope John XXIII Pope John XXIII ( la, Ioannes XXIII; it, Giovanni XXIII; born Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli, ; 25 November 18813 June 1963) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 28 October 1958 until his death in June 19 ...

, erected by the Government of the Republic.

Celebrations

Several liturgical celebrations are stipulated for the basilica. Amongst these are included: the election and the establishment of the Captains Regent; the anniversary celebration of the Republic's Militia (25 March); national and religious holidays of San Marino, the Founder and Patron of the Republic (3 September), and St. Agatha, patroness of the Republic (5 February); and the religious festival honoring the St. of the Body and Blood of Christ. The basilica can also function as a venue for popular events such as the XII Autumn Music Festival production in 2010 of

Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 17565 December 1791), baptised as Joannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart, was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period (music), Classical period. Despite his short life, his ra ...

's ''Requiem Mass''.

References

{{Authority control Roman Catholic cathedrals in San Marino Buildings and structures in the City of San Marino Roman Catholic churches completed in 1838 19th-century Roman Catholic church buildings Basilica churches in Europe