The Basilica of the Holy Cross in Jerusalem or Basilica di Santa Croce in Gerusalemme () 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 ...
rione
A (; : , ) is an administrative division of Italy, roughly equivalent to a township or municipality. It is the third-level administrative division of Italy, after regions () and provinces (). The can also have the title of ().
Formed a ...
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, ...
, Italy. It is one of the
Seven Pilgrim Churches of Rome
7 (seven) is the natural number following 6 and preceding 8. It is the only prime number preceding a cube (algebra), cube.
As an early prime number in the series of positive integers, the number seven has symbolic associations in religion, myt ...
.
According to Christian tradition, the basilica was consecrated circa 325 to house the
relic
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 ...
Holy Land
The term "Holy Land" is used to collectively denote areas of the Southern Levant that hold great significance in the Abrahamic religions, primarily because of their association with people and events featured in the Bible. It is traditionall ...
Jerusalem
Jerusalem is a city in the Southern Levant, on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is one of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest cities in the world, and ...
, thus acquiring the title ''in Hierusalem''; it is not dedicated to the Holy Cross of Jerusalem, but the basilica was considered in a sense to be "in Jerusalem" (much in the way that an
embassy
A diplomatic mission or foreign mission is a group of people from a Sovereign state, state or organization present in another state to represent the sending state or organization officially in the receiving or host state. In practice, the phrase ...
today is considered extraterritorial). Between 1561 and 2011 it was the conventual church of an adjacent and now dissolved
Abbey
An abbey is a type of monastery used by members of a religious order under the governance of an abbot or abbess. Abbeys provide a complex of buildings and land for religious activities, work, and housing of Christians, Christian monks and nun ...
of
Cistercian
The Cistercians (), officially the Order of Cistercians (, abbreviated as OCist or SOCist), are a Catholic religious order of monks and nuns that branched off from the Benedictines and follow the Rule of Saint Benedict, as well as the contri ...
monks whose aesthetic simplicity greatly influenced the interior of the basilica. The church is now run directly by the Diocese of Rome. The current Cardinal Priest of the ''Titulus S. Crucis in Hierusalem'' is Juan José Omella.
History
The basilica is built on the foundations of an imperial villa called ''Horti Variani ad Spem Veterem'' which was begun by the Emperor
Septimius Severus
Lucius Septimius Severus (; ; 11 April 145 – 4 February 211) was Roman emperor from 193 to 211. He was born in Leptis Magna (present-day Al-Khums, Libya) in the Roman province of Africa. As a young man he advanced through cursus honorum, the ...
and finished by the Emperor Elagabalus in the third century. The site included the Amphitheatrum Castrense, the Circus Varianus and the Eleniane Baths (so called after the restoration carried out by the Empress Helena). It contained a residential nucleus in which there was a large hall (later forming the basis for the basilica) and an apsed hall.
The villa was deprived of some of its material when the Aurelian Walls were constructed in 272. At the beginning of the 4th century the palace was chosen as a residence by the Empress Helena, mother of Constantine, with the name Sessorium (it. ''Palazzo Sessoriano''). The name Sessorium comes from the Latin sedeo, or "siedo" since in the late imperial era the imperial council used to meet in the aula regia, a reception hall (or throne room) of the palace. It was on her initiative that the large rectangular hall was transformed into a Christian basilica around 320, originally covered by a flat ceiling, illuminated by twenty windows placed five on each side and with valuable marble decoration in the lower register. Helena had some soil from Calvary dispersed. (The Sessorium's larger civil hall, built in the style of a three-aisled columned
basilica
In Ancient Roman architecture, a basilica (Greek Basiliké) was a large public building with multiple functions that was typically built alongside the town's forum. The basilica was in the Latin West equivalent to a stoa in the Greek Eas ...
, is still partially preserved as a free-standing apse ruin.)
The basilica of Santa Croce was declared a titular church by
Pope Gregory I
Pope Gregory I (; ; – 12 March 604), commonly known as Saint Gregory the Great (; ), was the 64th Bishop of Rome from 3 September 590 until his death on 12 March 604. He is known for instituting the first recorded large-scale mission from Ro ...
in 523. Despite the fact it was located on the outskirts of Rome, it became a destination of regular pilgrimage, thanks to the popularity of the relics it kept. In the eighth century, the basilica was restored by
Pope Gregory II
Pope Gregory II (; 669 – 11 February 731) was the Pope, bishop of Rome from 19 May 715 to his death on 11 February 731.Pope Lucius II restored it in the 12th century, giving it a Romanesque appearance, with a nave, two aisles, belfry, and porch. The Cosmatesque pavement dates from this period. Of the eight original floors of the bell tower, only the last four remain visible; the first four floors are instead incorporated into the monastery below.
The foundation of the monastery dates to the 10th century. Over the centuries, various religious communities have alternated in the complex. Pope Leo IX, in 1049, entrusted the monastery to the Benedictines of Montecassino. In 1062 Pope Alexander II installed the
Canons Regular
The Canons Regular of St. Augustine are Catholic priests who live in community under a rule ( and κανών, ''kanon'', in Greek) and are generally organised into Religious order (Catholic), religious orders, differing from both Secular clergy, ...
Cistercian
The Cistercians (), officially the Order of Cistercians (, abbreviated as OCist or SOCist), are a Catholic religious order of monks and nuns that branched off from the Benedictines and follow the Rule of Saint Benedict, as well as the contri ...
s of the Congregation of Saint Bernard took over. This congregation was finally suppressed in 2011 by a decree of the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life, after an inquiry found evidence of liturgical and financial irregularities as well as irregular lifestyle.
Throughout the course of the Middle Ages the basilica was a popular destination for pilgrimages, particularly of a penitential type, and especially during the period of
Lent
Lent (, 'Fortieth') is the solemn Christianity, Christian religious moveable feast#Lent, observance in the liturgical year in preparation for Easter. It echoes the 40 days Jesus spent fasting in the desert and enduring Temptation of Christ, t ...
. On
Good Friday
Good Friday, also known as Holy Friday, Great Friday, Great and Holy Friday, or Friday of the Passion of the Lord, is a solemn Christian holy day commemorating the crucifixion of Jesus and his death at Calvary (Golgotha). It is observed during ...
popes themselves walked barefoot, as a sign of penance, along the road that connected Saint John Lateran (official Cathedral of Rome) to the basilica of Santa Croce to come and venerate the relic of the Passion of Jesus. This tradition was then taken up by the Roman Missal and integrated into the Liturgy of Good Friday, which includes a period of adoration of the cross.
In the vault is a mosaic designed by Melozzo da Forlì, created some time before 1485 and depicting ''Jesus Blessing'', ''Histories of the Cross'', and various saints. The altar has a large statue of St. Helena, which was created by adapting an ancient statue of the Roman goddess Juno discovered at Ostia. The basilica was further modified in the 16th century.
In 1601, during his first stay in Rome,
Peter Paul Rubens
Sir Peter Paul Rubens ( ; ; 28 June 1577 – 30 May 1640) was a Flemish painting, Flemish artist and diplomat. He is considered the most influential artist of the Flemish Baroque painting, Flemish Baroque tradition. Rubens' highly charged comp ...
was commissioned by Archduke Albert of Austria to paint his first altarpiece, ''St. Helena with the True Cross'', for one of the side chapels. Two of the side panels, ''St. Helena with the True Cross'' and ''The Mocking of Christ'', are now in Grasse,
France
France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...
. The third, ''The Elevation of the Cross'', has been lost. The church assumed its current late Baroque appearance under Pope Benedict XIV (1740–58), who had been its titular, prior to his elevation to the Papacy. This eighteenth-century restructuring led to a total renewal of the interior, with the vault painted by Corrado Giaquinto (a celebrated artist of the time). Finally, new streets were also opened to connect the Basilica to San Giovanni in Laterano and
Santa Maria Maggiore
Santa Maria Maggiore (), also known as the Basilica of Saint Mary Major or the Basilica of Saint Mary the Great, is one of the four Basilicas in the Catholic Church#Major and papal basilicas, major papal basilicas and one of the Seven Pilgrim C ...
. The façade of the Basilica, which was designed by Pietro Passalacqua and Domenico Gregorini, shares the typical late Roman
Baroque
The Baroque ( , , ) is a Western Style (visual arts), style of Baroque architecture, architecture, Baroque music, music, Baroque dance, dance, Baroque painting, painting, Baroque sculpture, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished from ...
Several famous relics of disputed authenticity are housed in the ''Cappella delle Reliquie'', built in 1930 by architect Florestano Di Fausto, including part of the ''Elogium'' or Titulus Crucis, i.e. the panel which was hung on Christ's Cross (generally either ignored by scholars or considered to be a medieval forgery); two thorns of the Crown of Thorns; part of a nail; the index finger of St. Thomas; and three small wooden pieces of the
True Cross
According to Christian tradition, the True Cross is the real instrument of Jesus' crucifixion, cross on which Jesus of Nazareth was Crucifixion of Jesus, crucified.
It is related by numerous historical accounts and Christian mythology, legends ...
. A much larger piece of the True Cross was taken from the Basilica on the instructions of
Pope Urban VIII
Pope Urban VIII (; ; baptised 5 April 1568 – 29 July 1644), born Maffeo Vincenzo Barberini, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 6 August 1623 to his death, in July 1644. As pope, he expanded the papal terri ...
in 1629 to St. Peter's Basilica, where it is kept near the colossal statue of St. Empress Helena sculpted by Andrea Bolgi in 1639.
Other Art
The apse of the Basilica includes frescoes telling the ''Legends of the True Cross'', attributed to Melozzo, Antoniazzo Romano, and Marco Palmezzano. The Museum of the Basilica houses a mosaic icon which, according to the legend,
Pope Gregory I
Pope Gregory I (; ; – 12 March 604), commonly known as Saint Gregory the Great (; ), was the 64th Bishop of Rome from 3 September 590 until his death on 12 March 604. He is known for instituting the first recorded large-scale mission from Ro ...
* Raimondo Besozzi (1750). ''La storia della Basilica di Santa Croce in Gerusalemme''. Roma: Generoso Salomoni.
* Marie-Théodore de Busierre (1846). Les sept basiliques de Rome Tome second. Paris: Jacques Lecoffre. pp. 157–178.
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