San Giuliano or San Giuliano Martire is a

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) is a Periodization, period of history and a European cultural movement covering the 15th and 16th centuries. It marked the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and was characterized by an effort to revive and sur ...

-style

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

church in

Rimini Rimini ( , ; or ; ) is a city in the Emilia-Romagna region of Northern Italy. Sprawling along the Adriatic Sea, Rimini is situated at a strategically-important north-south passage along the coast at the southern tip of the Po Valley. It is ...

, Italy. The church was built during 1553–1575 adjacent to a

Benedictine order The Benedictines, officially the Order of Saint Benedict (, abbreviated as O.S.B. or OSB), are a mainly Christian mysticism, contemplative Christian monasticism, monastic Religious order (Catholic), order of the Catholic Church for men and f ...

abbey. The present structure was built at the site of a 9th-century church dedicated to Santi Apostoli Pietro e Paolo. The Benedictines were suppressed in 1797 by Napoleonic forces. The church held works by Giuseppe Pedretti and Francesco Mancini. The main altarpiece is a master work by

Paolo Veronese Paolo Caliari (152819 April 1588), known as Paolo Veronese ( , ; ), was an Italian Renaissance painter based in Venice, known for extremely large history paintings of religion and mythology, such as ''The Wedding at Cana (Veronese), The Wedding ...

depicting the ''Martyrdom of San Giuliano'' (1588). The church also houses the polyptych (1409) by Bittino da Faenza (1357–1427) depicting episodes of this saint's life. Relics of the saint were kept in the church.Guida del forestiere nella città di Rimini
by Luigi Tonini, 1864, page 27-28.

Sarcophagus legend

According to local legend, during the reign of

Otto the Great Otto I (23 November 912 – 7 May 973), known as Otto the Great ( ) or Otto of Saxony ( ), was East Frankish ( German) king from 936 and Holy Roman Emperor from 962 until his death in 973. He was the eldest son of Henry the Fowler and Matilda ...

in the 10th century, a marble

sarcophagus A sarcophagus (: sarcophagi or sarcophaguses) is a coffin, most commonly carved in stone, and usually displayed above ground, though it may also be buried. The word ''sarcophagus'' comes from the Greek language, Greek wikt:σάρξ, σάρξ ...

washed up on Rimini's shores, in the area that became known as Sacramora (). A spring of pure water surged at the place of the sarcophagus' landing. Giovanni, the abbot of the monastery of St Peter, transported the sarcophagus to the monastery, where it was opened and found to contain the incorrupt body of

Julian of Antioch Julian of Antioch (, Greek: Ίουλιανός; AD 305 311), variously distinguished as and was a 4th-century Christian martyr and saint. He is sometimes confused with the St Julian who was martyred with his wife Basilissa. ...

, martyred in

Cilicia Cilicia () is a geographical region in southern Anatolia, extending inland from the northeastern coasts of the Mediterranean Sea. Cilicia has a population ranging over six million, concentrated mostly at the Cilician plain (). The region inclu ...

. The tradition holds that Julian's body was transported to a spur of rock on

Marmara Island Marmara Island () is a Turkish island in the Sea of Marmara. With an area of , it is the largest island in the Sea of Marmara and the second-largest island of Turkey - after Imbros, Gökçeada (formerly ; ''Imvros''). It is the center of Marmar ...

, and a landslide dislodged it into the sea, leading to its arrival in Rimini. The sarcophagus was inspected in the 15th century, and for another time in March 1584, when it revealed two coffins, with the lower one empty. On 8 June 1910, the sarcophagus was opened again. It was described as worn: visiting pilgrims would scratch the sarcophagus, believing its powder to be miraculous. Several coins were recovered, ranging in their date from

Constantine Constantine most often refers to: * Constantine the Great, Roman emperor from 306 to 337, also known as Constantine I * Constantine, Algeria, a city in Algeria Constantine may also refer to: People * Constantine (name), a masculine g ...

Innocent X Pope Innocent X (6 May 1574 – 7 January 1655), born Giovanni Battista Pamphilj (or Pamphili), was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 15 September 1644 to his death, in January 1655. Born in Rome of a family fro ...

References

16th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in Italy Roman Catholic churches in Rimini Roman Catholic churches completed in 1575 {{EmiliaRomagna-RC-church-stub