The basilica of San Pancrazio (; ) is a

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

minor basilica Basilicas are Catholic church buildings that have a designation, conferring special privileges, given by the Pope. Basilicas are distinguished for ceremonial purposes from other churches. The building need not be a basilica in the architectura ...

and

titular Titular may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Title character in a narrative work, the character referred to in its title Religion * Titular (Catholicism), a cardinal who holds a titulus, one of the main churches of Rome ** Titular bisho ...

, conventual, and

parish church A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the Church (building), church which acts as the religious centre of a parish. In many parts of the world, especially in rural areas, the parish church may play a significant role in com ...

founded by

Pope Symmachus Pope Symmachus (died 19 July 514) was the bishop of Rome from 22 November 498 to his death on 19 July 514. His tenure was marked by a serious schism over who was elected pope by a majority of the Roman clergy. Early life He was born on the Medi ...

in the 6th century in Rome, Italy. It stands in via S. Pancrazio, westward beyond the Porta San Pancrazio that opens in a stretch of the Aurelian Wall on the

Janiculum The Janiculum (; ), occasionally known as the Janiculan Hill, is a hill in western Rome, Italy. Although it is the second-tallest hill (the tallest being Monte Mario) in the contemporary city of Rome, the Janiculum does not figure among the pro ...

and covers the Catacomb of San Pancrazio. The adjacent convent was established perhaps as early as the church and has been occupied by the

Discalced Carmelite The Discalced Carmelites, known officially as the Order of the Discalced Brothers of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Mount Carmel () or the Order of Discalced Carmelites (; abbrev.: OCD; sometimes called in earlier times, ), is a Catholic mendicant ...

since 1662. The

Cardinal Priest A cardinal is a senior member of the clergy of the Catholic Church. As titular members of the clergy of the Diocese of Rome, they serve as advisors to the pope, who is the bishop of Rome and the visible head of the worldwide Catholic Church. Ca ...

of the ''Titulus S. Pancratii'' is

Antonio Cañizares Llovera Antonio Cañizares Llovera (; born 15 October 1945) is a Spanish Catholic cardinal who served as Archbishop of Valencia from 2014 to 2022. He was prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments from 2008 t ...

. Other previous titulars include

Pope Paul IV Pope Paul IV (; ; 28 June 1476 – 18 August 1559), born Gian Pietro Carafa, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 23 May 1555 to his death, in August 1559. While serving as papal nuncio in Spain, he developed ...

(15 January – 24 September 1537) and

Pope Clement VIII Pope Clement VIII (; ; 24 February 1536 – 3 March 1605), born Ippolito Aldobrandini, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 30 January 1592 to his death in March 1605. Born in Fano, Papal States to a prominen ...

(18 December 1585 – 30 January 1592).

History

The basilica was built by

(498–514), on the place where the body of the young martyr Saint Pancras of Rome, or Pancratius, had been buried, ''Via Aurelia miliario secundo'' ('on the Via Aurelia at the second milestone'). The church was originally placed by him under the care of the clergy of the Church of S. Crisogono. Due to their neglect of the site, Pope Gregory I (590–604) handed it over to the members of the newly founded

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 ...

after the

Lombards The Lombards () or Longobards () were a Germanic peoples, Germanic people who conquered most of the Italian Peninsula between 568 and 774. The medieval Lombard historian Paul the Deacon wrote in the ''History of the Lombards'' (written betwee ...

sacked their monastery of

Montecassino The Abbey of Monte Cassino (today usually spelled Montecassino) is a Catholic, Benedictine monastery on a rocky hill about southeast of Rome, in the Latin Valley. Located on the site of the ancient Roman town of Casinum, it is the first house ...

in 580. In the seventh century Pope Honorius I (625–638) built a larger church for the increasing numbers of pilgrims; he placed the relics of the saint beneath the high altar, with a window of access from a semi-circular corridor that led behind and below the altar. In the 17th century, it was given to the

Discalced Carmelites The Discalced Carmelites, known officially as the Order of the Discalced Brothers of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Mount Carmel () or the Order of Discalced Carmelites (; abbreviation, abbrev.: OCD; sometimes called in earlier times, ), is a Catho ...

, who completely remodeled it. The church underwent further rebuilding in the 19th century, having been heavily damaged during the French attack on the incipient

Roman Republic The Roman Republic ( ) was the era of Ancient Rome, classical Roman civilisation beginning with Overthrow of the Roman monarchy, the overthrow of the Roman Kingdom (traditionally dated to 509 BC) and ending in 27 BC with the establis ...

in 1849; but it retains its plain brick facade of the late 15th century, with the arms of

Pope Innocent VIII Pope Innocent 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 the viceroy of Naples, Cybo spent his ea ...

.Touring Club Italiano, ''Roma e dintorni'' (Milan, 1965) p. 455. Below the church there are huge

catacomb Catacombs are man-made underground passages primarily used for religious purposes, particularly for burial. Any chamber used as a burial place is considered a catacomb, although the word is most commonly associated with the Roman Empire. Etym ...

s, the '' Catacomb of San Pancrazio'' or ''di Ottavilla''. Entrance is next to the small ''Museo di S. Pancrazio'' with fragments of sculpture and pagan and early Christian inscriptions.

Cardinal-Priests of San Pancrazio

The Church of S. Pancrazio was established as the titulus of a Cardinal-Priest by Pope Leo X on 6 July 1517.David M. Cheney, ''Catholic-Hierarchy:'
''The Cardinal-Priests of S. Pancrazio''
Retrieved: 2016-03-12. *

Ferdinando Ponzetti Ferdinando Ponzetti (1444–1527) was an Italian Roman Catholic bishop and cardinal. Biography Ferdinando Ponzetti was born in Florence in 1444, the son of a noble Neapolitan family. He studied Christian theology, philosophy, Greek, Latin and ...

(1517–1527) * Francesco Corner (1528–1534) * Gian Pietro Carafa (1537) *

Federico Cesi Federico Angelo Cesi (; 26 February 1585 – 1 August 1630) was an Italian scientist, naturalist, and founder of the Accademia dei Lincei. On his father's death in 1630, he became briefly lord of Acquasparta. Biography Federico Cesi was ...

(1545–1550) *

Juan Álvarez de Toledo Juan Álvarez de Toledo (15 July 1488 – 15 September 1557) was a Spanish Dominican and Cardinal, from 1538. Considered ''papabile'' in the papal conclave (1549–1550), he was initially running second in votes to Reginald Pole. He was again a ...

(1551–1553) * Miguel da Silva (1553) * Giovanni Antonio Capizucchi (1556–1562) * Bernardo Navagero (1562) *

Stanislaus Hosius Stanislaus Hosius (; 5 May 1504 – 5 August 1579) was a Polish Roman Catholic cardinal. From 1551 he was the Prince-Bishop of the Bishopric of Warmia in Royal Prussia, and from 1558, he served as the papal legate to the Holy Roman Emperor's I ...

(1562–1565) * Simone Pasqua (1565) * Tolomeo Gallio (1565–1568) * Gianpaolo Della Chiesa (1568–1575) * Ippolito Aldobrandini (1586–1592) *

Girolamo Mattei Girolamo Mattei (8 February 1547 – 8 December 1603) was an Italian Cardinal from the House of Mattei. Biography Mattei was born 8 February 1547, the son of Alessandro Mattei and Emilia Mazzatosta. He was the younger brother of Ciriaco Mattei ...

(1592–1603) *

Pietro Aldobrandini Pietro Aldobrandini (31 March 1571 – 10 February 1621) was an Italian Cardinal (Catholic Church), cardinal and patron of the arts. Biography Pietro Aldobrandini was a cousin of Cardinal Cinzio Aldobrandini, and uncle of Cardinals Silvestro a ...

(1604–1605) * Domenico Ginnasi (1605–1606) * Ludovico de Torres (1606–1609) *

Gabriel Trejo y Paniagua Gabriel Trejo y Paniagua (1562 in Casas de Millán, Crown of Castile – 11 February 1630 in Málaga, Crown of Castile) was a Spanish cardinal, bishop and Rector of the University of Salamanca. He was also known as Gabriel Tressius Panicqua ...

(1617–1621) *

Cosimo de Torres Cosimo de Torres also Cosmo de Torres and Cosma de Torres (1584–1642) was a Roman Catholic cardinal who served as Cardinal-Priest of Santa Maria in Trastevere (1641–1642), Cardinal-Priest of San Pancrazio (1623–1641), Archbishop of Monrea ...

(1623–1641) * Gaspare Mattei (1643–1648) * Francesco Maidalchini (1653–1654) * Carlo Gualterio (1654–1667) * Giacomo Franzoni (1670–1673) *

Pietro Vidoni Pietro Vidoni (8 November 1610 – 5 January 1681) was an Italian cardinal who served from 1652 to 1660 as the papal legate and nuncio to Poland. Personal life Vidoni was born 8 November 1610 in Cremona into Italian noble family. He studied at ...

(1673–1681) * Antonio Pignatelli (1681–1691) * Bandino Panciatichi (1691–1710) * Damian Hugo Philipp von Schönborn (1721–1726) * Vincenzo Ludovico Gotti, O.P. (1728–1738) * Gioacchino Besozzi, O.Cist. (1743–1744) * Federico Marcello Lante (1745–1753) * Giuseppe Maria Feroni (1753–1764) * Giovanni Battista Bussi (1824–1844) *

Carlo Vizzardelli Carlo is a given name. It is an Italian form of Charles. It can refer to: *Carlo (name) *Monte Carlo *Carlingford, New South Wales, a suburb in north-west Sydney, New South Wales, Australia *A satirical song written by Dafydd Iwan about Prince Char ...

(1848–1851) * Clément Villecourt (1855–1867) * Josip Mihalovic (1877–1891) * Francesco Ricci Paracciani (1891–1894) * Achille Manara (1895–1906) * Aristide Rinaldini (1907–1920) * Giovanni Bonzano (1922–1924) * Lorenzo Lauri (1927–1941) *

Carlos Carmelo de Vasconcelos Motta Carlos Carmelo Vasconcellos Motta (16 July 1890 – 18 September 1982) was a long-serving cardinal. Until Eugênio de Araújo Sales surpassed him in 2005, he was the longest-serving Brazilian cardinal, and during his cardinalate the Church in B ...

(1946–1982) * José Lebrún Moratinos (1983–2001) *

(2006–)

References

Bibliography

* Richart Krautheimer, ''Corpus Basilicarum Christianarum Romae: The Early Christian Basilicas of Rome (IV–IX Cent.)'' Part II (Roma: 1937), pp. 153–177. * John Crook, ''The Architectural Setting of the Cult of Saints in the Early Christian West c. 300 – c. 1200'' (Oxford: Clarendon 2000), pp. 82–83. * Giuseppe Burragato and Antonio Palumbo, ''Sulle orme di San Pancrazio, martire romano. Culto, basilica, catacombe'' (Morena (Roma) : Edizioni OCD, 2004).

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Pancrazio Basilica churches in Rome Titular churches 6th-century churches 17th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in Italy Rome Q. XII Gianicolense