Santa Balbina is a

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 ...

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 ...

church in located in the Aventine rione, adjacent to the

Baths of Caracalla The Baths of Caracalla ( it, Terme di Caracalla) in Rome, Italy, were the city's second largest Ancient Rome, Roman public baths, or ''thermae'', after the Baths of Diocletian. The baths were likely built between AD 212 (or 211) and 216/217, durin ...

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 ...

History

A church at the site initially was built in the 4th century over the house of

consul Consul (abbrev. ''cos.''; Latin plural ''consules'') was the title of one of the two chief magistrates of the Roman Republic, and subsequently also an important title under the Roman Empire. The title was used in other European city-states throug ...

Lucius Fabius Cilo Lucius Fabius Cilo, full name Lucius Fabius Cilo Septiminus Catinius Acilianus Lepidus Fulcinianus, was a Roman senator, who was a confidant of Septimius Severus. He held a number of appointments that have been dated to the reigns of Commodus and S ...

. Possibly the ancient ''Titulus Tigridae'', the basilica was consecrated to St Balbina (died c. 130) in circa the year 600 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 ...

. It underwent many revisions since then, including by Pope Gregory III in 751, Pope Paul II in 1464, and by Cardinal Pompeo Arrigoni in 1600. Initially affiliated with Augustinians, the allegiance changed to the secular priests of Naples by Pope Innocent XII. The adjoining monastery has a commanding medieval defence tower. Inside the basilica there is a very fine episcopal chair with

Cosmatesque Cosmatesque, or Cosmati, is a style of geometric decorative inlay stonework typical of the architecture of Medieval Italy, and especially of Rome and its surroundings. It was used most extensively for the decoration of church floors, but was also u ...

decoration from the 13th century. The church was heavily restored in the 1930s when frescoes were discovered on the side walls from the 9th to 14th centuries. The Baroque frescoes in the apse and the triumphal arch were painted by

Anastasio Fontebuoni Anastasio Fontebuoni (also spelt Anastazio Fontebuoni, or Anastagio Fontebuoni) (1571–1626) was an Italian painter of the Baroque, native of Florence. Fontebuoni proved to be one of the Florentine painters are more open to the influence of Cara ...

in 1599. The triumphal arch is decorated with the figures of Ss Paul and Peter while in the apse we can see St Balbina between other martyrs. An ancient sarcophagus was also discovered during the restoration. It is now used as a font. In 1270 the first known Hungarian cardinal, Stephen Báncsa was buried in the basilica. Another 13th-century Hungarian clergyman,

Pál Pál is a Hungarian masculine given name, the Hungarian version of Paul. It may refer to: * Pál Almásy (1818-1882), Hungarian lawyer and politician * Pál Bedák (born 1985), Hungarian boxer * Pál Benkő (1928–2019), Hungarian-American che ...

, Bishop of

Paphos Paphos ( el, Πάφος ; tr, Baf) is a coastal city in southwest Cyprus and the capital of Paphos District. In classical antiquity, two locations were called Paphos: Old Paphos, today known as Kouklia, and New Paphos. The current city of Pap ...

, erected an altar in the church for Saint Nicolas. Both the altar and the grave disappeared during later centuries, but a plaque commemorates the offerings of Pál. The

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 the ''Titulus S. Balbinae'' is

Péter Erdő Péter Erdő ( hu, Erdő Péter, ; born 25 June 1952) is a Hungarian Cardinal of the Latin Rite of the Catholic Church, who has been the Archbishop of Esztergom-Budapest and Primate of Hungary since 2003. He was president of the Council of ...

, Archbishop of Esztergom. According to Péter Erdő the Hungarian connections of the church played part in the Pope's decision when he chose Santa Balbina as Erdő's titular church. The Cardinal also recommended Hungarian pilgrims to visit the basilica and said he feels a special responsibility for the building. Among the previous titulars,

Alfonso de la Cueva, marqués de Bedmar Alfonso de la Cueva-Benavides y Mendoza-Carrillo, marqués de Bedmar (first name also spelled ''Alonso'', often used was the title ''Bedmar'') (25 July 157410 August 1655) was a Spanish diplomat, bishop and Roman Catholic cardinal. He was bor ...

and

Francisco Jiménez de Cisneros Francisco Jiménez de Cisneros, OFM (1436 – 8 November 1517), spelled Ximenes in his own lifetime, and commonly referred to today as simply Cisneros, was a Spanish cardinal, religious figure, and statesman. Starting from humble beginning ...

Father Simpliciano of the Nativity Simpliciano of the Nativity (11 May 1827 – 25 May 1898) – born Aniello Maresca – was a Franciscan priest and the founder of the Congregation of the Franciscan Sisters of the Sacred Hearts (SFSC/FSSH) in Santa Balbina, Rome, Italy. Early da ...

founded the Congregation of the Franciscan Sisters of the Sacred Hearts here.

List of Cardinal-Priests

Gallery

File:San Saba - santa Balbina interno 1000904.JPG, Interior File:San Saba - santa Balbina - stemma di Innocenzo VIII nel portico 1000910.JPG, Santa Balbina in Rome: Coat of arms of

Pope Innocent VIII Pope Innocent VIII ( la, Innocentius VIII; it, Innocenzo VIII; 1432 – 25 July 1492), born Giovanni Battista Cybo (or Cibo), was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 29 August 1484 to his death in July 1492. Son of th ...

(1473-1474) in the portico File:San Saba - santa Balbina cattedra cosmatesca 1000906.JPG, Bishop's Chair adorned in mosaic by the

Cosmati The Cosmati were a Roman family, seven members of which, for four generations, were skilful architects, sculptors and workers in decorative geometric mosaic, mostly for church floors. Their name is commemorated in the genre of Cosmatesque work ...

- 13th century File:San Saba - santa Balbina crocifissione Mino da Fiesole 1000907.JPG, Crucifixion relief done for the tomb of

Pope Paul II Pope Paul II ( la, Paulus II; it, Paolo II; 23 February 1417 – 26 July 1471), born Pietro Barbo, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 30 August 1464 to his death in July 1471. When his maternal uncle Eugene IV ...

Mino da Fiesole Mino da Fiesole (c. 1429 – July 11, 1484), also known as Mino di Giovanni, was an Italian Renaissance sculptor from Poppi, Tuscany. He is noted for his portrait busts. Career Mino's work was influenced by his master Desiderio da Settignano and ...

File:Santa Balbina - torre 00156.JPG, Fortified tower of the Santa Balbina Convent File:San Saba - santa Balbina cortile del convento - listatum 1000902.JPG, Opus listatum in the walls of the convent now called Santa Dorotea File:Santa Balbina - abside 00151.JPG, Santa Balbina Exterior File:San Saba - santa Balbina 1000897.JPG, Santa Balbina, near the

File:San Saba - via di santa balbina.JPG, The way to Santa Balbina

References

Bibliography

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External links

* Nyborg, Chris
"Santa Balbina"
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Balbina Basilica churches in Rome Titular churches 6th-century churches Churches of Rome (rione San Saba)