:''This article concerns Solutor of Turin. Solutor was also the name of a member of the group of martyrs, along with Valentine and Victor, who died at Ravenna around 305 AD.'' Solutor, along with Octavius and Adventor (), (died ca. 284 AD) is the

patron saint A patron saint, patroness saint, patron hallow or heavenly protector is a saint who in Catholicism, Anglicanism, Eastern Orthodoxy or Oriental Orthodoxy is regarded as the heavenly advocate of a nation, place, craft, activity, class, clan, fa ...

Turin Turin ( , ; ; , then ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital from 1861 to 1865. The city is main ...

. Historical detail regarding these martyrs is sparse; their memory is preserved because the three were mentioned in a

sermon A sermon is a religious discourse or oration by a preacher, usually a member of clergy. Sermons address a scriptural, theological, or moral topic, usually expounding on a type of belief, law, or behavior within both past and present context ...

Maximus of Turin Maximus of Turin (; c. 380 – c. 465)
Vol. 10. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1911. 20 November 2021 was a

. However, Maximus makes no precise geographic or temporal references regarding Solutor, Octavius, and Adventor.San Solutore
/ref> Their legend states that they were members of the

Theban Legion The Theban Legion (also known as the Martyrs of Agaunum) figures in Christianity, Christian hagiography as a Roman legion from Roman Egypt, Egypt —"six thousand six hundred and sixty-six men" — consisting of Christian soldiers who were marty ...

during the end of the 3rd century. While the legion's leader,

Saint Maurice Maurice (also Moritz, Morris, Maurits, or Mauritius; ) was an Egyptians, Egyptian military leader who headed the legendary Theban Legion of Roman Empire, Rome in the 3rd century, and is one of the favourite and most widely venerated saints of tha ...

, was killed at

Agaunum Agaunum was an outpost in Roman Switzerland, predecessor of the modern city of Saint-Maurice in the canton of Valais, southwestern Switzerland. It was used by the Roman Empire for the collection of the '' Quadragesima Galliarum''. In Christian t ...

, along with many other soldiers, Solutor, Adventor, and Octavius managed to escape. Adventor and Octavius, however, were caught at the

Dora Riparia The Dora Riparia (; ; or ''Doire''; ) is an alpine river, a left-bank tributary of the Po. It is long (of which 5 km is in France), with a drainage basin. It originates in the Cottian Alps, close to the Col de Montgenèvre in France, wh ...

and killed there. Solutor would be killed at a

quarry A quarry is a type of open-pit mining, open-pit mine in which dimension stone, rock (geology), rock, construction aggregate, riprap, sand, gravel, or slate is excavated from the ground. The operation of quarries is regulated in some juri ...

near the

Dora Baltea The Dora Baltea () or Doire Baltée () is a river in the Aosta Valley and in Piedmont, in northwestern Italy. It is a left-hand tributary of the Po and is about long. Name The river's Latin name was ''Duria maior'', ''Duria Baltica'' or ''Duri ...

near

Caravino Caravino is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Metropolitan City of Turin in the Italian region Piedmont, located about northeast of Turin. Caravino borders the following municipalities: Albiano d'Ivrea, Azeglio, Strambino, Settimo Rottaro, Ves ...

. A matron of

Ivrea Ivrea (; ; ; ) is a town and ''comune'' of the Metropolitan City of Turin in the Piedmont region of northwestern Italy. Situated on the road leading to the Aosta Valley (part of the medieval Via Francigena), it straddles the Dora Baltea and is ...

collected their bodies in a

quadriga A quadriga is a car or chariot drawn by four horses abreast and favoured for chariot racing in classical antiquity and the Roman Empire. The word derives from the Latin , a contraction of , from ': four, and ': yoke. In Latin the word is almos ...

and carried them to Turin.

Veneration

In 490, Victor of Turin, bishop of the city, enlarged the church that housed their

relics In religion, a relic is an object or article of religious significance from the past. It usually consists of the physical remains or personal effects of a saint or other person preserved for the purpose of veneration as a tangible memorial. Reli ...

. In 1006, a

monastery A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of Monasticism, monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in Cenobitic monasticism, communities or alone (hermits). A monastery generally includes a ...

, San Solutore in Turin, was established by Bishop Gezo of Turin. The relics of the three martyrs, together with those of Saint Juliana and Saint Gozzelino (Goslino), second abbot of San Solutore, were transferred to the Turinese sanctuary known as the Consolata after

Francis I of France Francis I (; ; 12 September 1494 – 31 March 1547) was King of France from 1515 until his death in 1547. He was the son of Charles, Count of Angoulême, and Louise of Savoy. He succeeded his first cousin once removed and father-in-law Louis&nbs ...

ordered the demolition of San Solutore. In 1619, the relics were translated to the new church of the Holy Martyrs (Santi Martiri) on the Via Garibaldi. This church was built with the support of the

Piedmont Piedmont ( ; ; ) is one of the 20 regions of Italy, located in the northwest Italy, Northwest of the country. It borders the Liguria region to the south, the Lombardy and Emilia-Romagna regions to the east, and the Aosta Valley region to the ...

ese

pontiff In Roman antiquity, a pontiff () was a member of the most illustrious of the colleges of priests of the Roman religion, the College of Pontiffs."Pontifex". "Oxford English Dictionary", March 2007 The term ''pontiff'' was later applied to any h ...

Pius V Pope Pius V, OP (; 17 January 1504 – 1 May 1572), born Antonio Ghislieri (and from 1518 called Michele Ghislieri), was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 7 January 1566 to his death, in May 1572. He was an ...

and Emmanuel Philibert. The relics are still found at this church. According to legend, a vision of the

Virgin Mary Mary was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Saint Joseph, Joseph and the mother of Jesus. She is an important figure of Christianity, venerated under titles of Mary, mother of Jesus, various titles such as Perpetual virginity ...

appeared in a dream to

John Bosco John Melchior Bosco, Salesians of Don Bosco, SDB (; ; 16 August 181531 January 1888), popularly known as Don Bosco or Dom Bosco (International Phonetic Alphabet, IPA: ), was an Italian Catholic priest, educator and writer. While working in Tu ...

in 1844 or 1845 and revealed the site of the martyrdom of Adventor and Octavius. The Basilica dell'Ausiliatrice was built on the spot. The cult of Saint Solutor is particularly strong in the diocese of Ivrea, and he is also venerated in Caravino,

Romano Canavese Romano Canavese is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Metropolitan City of Turin in the Italian region Piedmont, located about northeast of Turin Turin ( , ; ; , then ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in northern I ...

, and

Strambino Strambino is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Metropolitan City of Turin in the Italy, Italian region Piedmont, located about northeast of Turin. As of 1 December 2021, it had a population of 6,132 and an area of .All demographics and other stat ...

. The

codex The codex (: codices ) was the historical ancestor format of the modern book. Technically, the vast majority of modern books use the codex format of a stack of pages bound at one edge, along the side of the text. But the term ''codex'' is now r ...

called the ''Codice della Catena'' depicts Saints Octavius, Maximus of Turin, Adventor, Solutor,

John the Baptist John the Baptist ( – ) was a Jewish preacher active in the area of the Jordan River in the early first century AD. He is also known as Saint John the Forerunner in Eastern Orthodoxy and Oriental Orthodoxy, John the Immerser in some Baptist ...

, and

Secundus of Asti Secundus of Asti () (died c. 119) is venerated as a martyr and saint. His feast day is generally celebrated on 29 March. Until the 15th century it was celebrated at Asti on 30 March, but it is now celebrated there on the first Tuesday in May. ...

.Torino Medievale - Percorso - Porta Doranea

External links

Saints of November 20: Solutor, Octavius, and Adventor

San Solutore

References

{{authority control 3rd-century births 284 deaths Saints from Roman Egypt Italian Roman Catholic saints 3rd-century Christian saints People from Turin