Catacombs Of San Valentino
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The Catacombs of San Valentino (
Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...
: ''Catacombe di San Valentino'') is one of the
catacombs of Rome The Catacombs of Rome () are ancient catacombs, underground burial places in and around Rome, of which there are at least forty, some rediscovered since 1578, others even as late as the 1950s. There are more than fifty catacombs in the underg ...
(
Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...
), placed at the 2nd mile of the
via Flaminia The Via Flaminia () was an ancient Roman roads, Roman road leading from Rome over the Apennine Mountains to ''Ariminum'' (Rimini) on the coast of the Adriatic Sea, and due to the ruggedness of the mountains was the major option the Romans had f ...
, now in Viale Maresciallo Pilsudski, in the modern Pinciano neighborhood.


History

Italian archaeologist Antonio Bosio was the first to enter the catacomb, into the upper level (no longer visible today). The first archaeologist to excavate the remains of the catacomb was Orazio Marucchi (1852–1931): in 1878, while searching for the cemetery, he casually entered a cellar, at the foot of the
Parioli Parioli () is the 2nd of Rome, identified by the initials Q. II. The toponym is also used to indicate the urbanistic area 2B of the . The name comes from Monti Parioli, a series of tufa hills, and was given to the area before its incorporatio ...
hills, and he realized that it actually was a grave covered with pictures, though very ruined because of its change into a room for agricultural use. Marucchi himself also discovered the remains of the outer basilica, dedicated to
Saint Valentine Saint Valentine (; ) was a 3rd-century Roman saint, commemorated in Western Christianity on February 14 and in Eastern Orthodoxy on July 6. From the High Middle Ages, his feast day has been associated with a tradition of courtly love. He is al ...
. New archaeological investigations were carried out in 1949 by Bruno Maria Apollonj Ghetti. These excavations permitted to ascertain that the martyr Valentine was not buried into the catacomb, but directly into a pit outside it; on this subdial grave,
Pope Julius I Pope Julius I was the bishop of Rome from 6 February 337 to his death on 12 April 352. He was appealed to by Athanasius when the latter was deposed from his position as patriarch by Arian bishops, Julius then supported Athanasius and condemned hi ...
(336–352) built a former basilical structure, which was modified and enlarged by popes Honorius I (625–638) and Theodore I (642–649) and further restored in the following centuries until the last works carried out by
Pope Nicholas II Pope Nicholas II (; c. 990/995 – 27 July 1061), otherwise known as Gerard of Burgundy, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 24 January 1059 until his death in 27 July 1061. At the time of his election, he was bish ...
in the mid-11th century. To this century dates back the testimony of a cloister close to the basilica. The basilica was still existing in the 13th century and some remains were visible in the time of
Bosio Bosio is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Alessandria in the Italian region Piedmont, located about southeast of Turin and about southeast of Alessandria. Bosio borders the following municipalities: Campo Ligure, Campomorone, ...
(1594). It has also been ascertained that, during the 6th century, between the basilica and the catacomb an open-air necropolis rose, with mausoleums, tombs and sarcophaguses. Nowadays hardly anything remains of the catacomb, especially due to the flood and the landslip that involved the area in 1986 and that made most of the galleries inaccessible. The only significant artifacts are the outer basilica and the ambulatory discovered by Marucchi in 1878 and placed at the entrance of the catacomb.


The martyr

A controversial debate arose between academics and archaeologists during the 20th century about the figure of
Saint Valentine Saint Valentine (; ) was a 3rd-century Roman saint, commemorated in Western Christianity on February 14 and in Eastern Orthodoxy on July 6. From the High Middle Ages, his feast day has been associated with a tradition of courtly love. He is al ...
: in fact, the date of February, 14 is consecrated to two martyr saints with the same name, the priest Valentine from
Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...
and the bishop Valentine from
Terni Terni ( ; ; ) is a city in the southern portion of the region of Umbria, in Central Italy. It is near the border with Lazio. The city is the capital of the province of Terni, located in the plain of the Nera (Tiber), River Nera. It is northeast ...
. The theories can be summed up as follows. # The first solution of the question of the two martyrs bearing the same name is the classic one, asserted by most of the academics until some decades ago: the saints are two different men. Valentine from Rome was a
presbyter Presbyter () is an honorific title for Christian clergy. The word derives from the Greek ''presbyteros'', which means elder or senior, although many in Christian antiquity understood ''presbyteros'' to refer to the bishop functioning as overseer ...
, who was martyred on February 14 under Emperor
Gallienus Publius Licinius Egnatius Gallienus (; – September 268) was Roman emperor with his father Valerian from 253 to 260 and alone from 260 to 268. He ruled during the Crisis of the Third Century that nearly caused the collapse of the empire. He ...
(253–268) and was buried by a Christian woman named Sabinilla into a plot she owned at the feet of the Parioli hill. These topographic indications are confirmed by the
Chronography of 354 The Chronograph of 354 is a compilation of chronological and calendrical texts produced in 354 AD for a wealthy Roman Christian named Valentinus by the calligrapher and illustrator Furius Dionysius Filocalus. The original illustrated manuscri ...
, written by
Furius Dionysius Filocalus Furius Dionysius Filocalus was a Roman scribe and stone engraver, specialized in Epigraphy, epigraphic texts, who was active in the second half of the fourth century. Chronography of 354 One of his most noteworthy works is the "Chronography of ...
, which is the earliest notice about the martyr Valentine: in fact the Chronography tells that Pope Julius I built a basilica ''“quae appellatur Valentini”'' (''which is called Valentine's''). Moreover, the presence of a man named Valentine in Rome is also attested by the discovery, into the basilica at the feet of the Parioli, of some fragments of a carmen written by
Pope Damasus I Pope Damasus I (; c. 305 – 11 December 384), also known as Damasus of Rome, was the bishop of Rome from October 366 to his death in 384. It is claimed that he presided over the Council of Rome of 382 that determined the canon or official list ...
to celebrate the martyr. # In the 1960s, the Franciscan scholar Agostino Amore, taking his stand on the notice into the Chronography, supposed that a martyr Valentine from Rome never existed. According to his investigation, Valentine is the name of the man who financed the building of the outer basilica under the papacy of
Pope Julius I Pope Julius I was the bishop of Rome from 6 February 337 to his death on 12 April 352. He was appealed to by Athanasius when the latter was deposed from his position as patriarch by Arian bishops, Julius then supported Athanasius and condemned hi ...
in the mid-4th century and who, due to this donation, deserved the epithet of saint during the 6th century: in order to confirm his thesis, Amore quotes documents from a Roman synod in 595, in which each titular church of Rome is preceded by the word “saint”, while in a similar document from a synod in 499 the expression ''sanctus'' before the name of the Roman titular churches never appears. Finally, for Valentine it seems plausible the same situation of other ancient Roman '' tituli'', like the ones of
Saint Cecilia Saint Cecilia (), also spelled Cecelia, was a Roman Christian virgin martyr, who is venerated in Catholic, Eastern Orthodox Church, Orthodox, Anglican Communion, Anglican, and some Lutheran churches, such as the Church of Sweden. She became the ...
, Saint Praxedes or Saint Pudentiana. # In the last decades, the scholar Vincenzo Fiocchi Nicolai has proposed a new interpretation, according to which the priest Valentine from Rome and the bishop Valentine from Terni would be the same person. Fiocchi Nicolai suggests the existence of a single Valentine, a priest from Terni who came to Rome and here was martyred and buried: later his worship spread until it reached his native town, where it found a new urge ''“under more prestigious pretences”''. There would have been a sort of decoupling of the figure of the martyr, that was made more important by his fellow citizens through the assignment of the title of ''episcopus''.


Description

The former basilica of Saint Valentine has three naves. Two apses, pertaining to different phases of the building, have been brought to light. There are also remains of an underlying crypt – probably due to the works carried out by
Pope Leo III Pope Leo III (; died 12 June 816) was bishop of Rome and ruler of the Papal States from 26 December 795 to his death on 12 June 816. Protected by Charlemagne from the supporters of his predecessor, Adrian I, Leo subsequently strengthened Charlem ...
(8th–9th century) – covered in marbles, some fragments of which are still ''in loco''. The only significant room of the catacomb, and also the only that can be visited today, is the ambulatory discovered by Marucchi in the 19th century and converted into a cellar. This room was visited by Antonio Bosio and at that time it was still intact: therefore, thanks to the drawings that he commissioned, it is possible to decipher the remains of the frescoes still surviving. According to their make and kind, they can be dated between the 7th century and the beginning of the 8th century. Especially notable is a series of frescoes about ''episodes of the life of
Mary Mary may refer to: People * Mary (name), a female given name (includes a list of people with the name) Religion * New Testament people named Mary, overview article linking to many of those below * Mary, mother of Jesus, also called the Blesse ...
'', taken from the
New Testament apocrypha The New Testament apocrypha (singular apocryphon) are a number of writings by early Christians that give accounts of Jesus and his teachings, the nature of God, or the teachings of his apostles and of their lives. Some of these writings were cit ...
, and the fresco of a ''Crucifix'', a very uncommon example into a catacomb.


Bibliography

* De Santis L., Biamonte G., ''Le catacombe di Roma'', Newton & Compton Editori, Rome 1997 * Amore A., ''S. Valentino di Roma o di Terni?'', in Antonianum 41 (1966) 260–277 * Apollonj Ghetti B. M., ''Nuove indagini sulla basilica di S. Valentino'', in Rivista di Archeologia Cristiana 25 (1949) 171–189 * Armellini M., ''Il cimitero di S. Valentino'', in ''Gli antichi cimiteri cristiani di Roma e d’Italia'', III, Rome 1893, 151–161 * Fiocchi Nicolai V., ''Il culto di S. Valentino tra Terni e Roma: una messa a punto'', in ''Atti del convegno di studio: L’Umbria meridionale fra tardo-antico e altomedioevo'', Acquasparta 1989 {{coord missing, Italy Valentino Rome Q. III Pinciano