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| Basilica of Saint Praxedes | |
|---|---|
 Internal façade | |
 Click on the map for a fullscreen view | |
| 41°53′46″N12°29′55″E / 41.8961°N 12.4986°E /41.8961; 12.4986 | |
| Location | 9A Via di Santa Prassede Rome |
| Country | Italy |
| Denomination | Catholic |
| Tradition | Latin Church |
| Religious order | Vallombrosian Benedictines |
| Website | Chiesa Rettoria Santa Prassede |
| History | |
| Status | Minor basilica, titular church |
| Dedication | SaintPraxedes |
| Relics held |
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| Architecture | |
| Style | Byzantine |
| Groundbreaking | 780 |
| Completed | 822 |
| Specifications | |
| Length | 45 m (148 ft) |
| Width | 30 m (98 ft) |
| Nave width | 17 metres (56 ft) |
| Clergy | |
| Cardinal protector | Paul Poupard |
TheBasilica of Saint Praxedes (Latin:Basilica Sanctae Praxedis,Italian:Basilica di Santa Prassede all’Esquillino), commonly known in Italian asSanta Prassede, is an early medievaltitular church andminor basilica located near the papal basilica ofSaint Mary Major, on Via di Santa Prassede,rione Monti inRome,Italy. The currentCardinal Priest ofTitulus Sancta Praxedis isPaul Poupard.
The church is dedicated to the second-centurySaint Praxedes, who with her sisterPudentiana, was said to have provided comfort and care to Christians persecuted in the Roman Empire.[1][2] Since 1198 it has been served byBenedictine monks of theVallombrosian order.[3]
The church incorporates mosaic decoration that mark it among the oldest churches in Rome. TheTitulus S. Praxedis was established byPope St. Evaristus in c. 112 and church near this site was present since at least the fifth century. The church in its current place and general layout was commissioned byPope Hadrian I around the year 780 to house the relics (bones) ofSt. Praxedes (Italian:S. Prassede) andSt. Pudentiana (Italian:S. Pudenziana), the daughters ofSt. Pudens, traditionallySt. Peter's first Christian convert in Rome. The church was built atop of the remains of a 4th-century ancient RomanThermae, privately owned by the family of Pudentiana, and calledTerme di Novato.[4] The two female saints were murdered for providing Christian burial for earlymartyrs in defiance of Roman law. The basilica was enlarged and decorated byPope St. Paschal I in c. 828.
Paschal, who reigned 817–824, was at the forefront of theCarolingian Renaissance started and advocated by the emperorCharlemagne. They desired to get back to the foundations of Christianity theologically and artistically. Paschal, thus, began two, linked, ambitious programs: the recovery of martyrs' bones from thecatacombs of Rome and an almost unprecedented church building campaign. Paschal dug up numerous skeletons and transplanted them to this church. While on a pilgrimage to Rome with his father around 855-856, the young and future English kingAlfred the Great was reportedly deeply impressed and inspired by the church's beauty.[5]
In 1198 theVallumbrosian monks, an Italian reform movement in theBenedictine Order inspired bySaint John Gualbert, were granted the monastery attached to the basilica by PopeInnocent III and have been present without interruption for more than 800 years since. They still maintain the monastery and the church and minister its liturgy today.[6]
The inscriptions found in Santa Prassede, a valuable source illustrating the history of the church, have been collected and published by Vincenzo Forcella.[7]
The church contains the oratory of St. Zeno.
The church provided the inspiration forRobert Browning's poem "The Bishop Orders His Tomb at Saint Praxed's Church."
The main altarpiece is a canvas ofSt Praxedes Gathering the Blood of the Martyrs (c. 1730–35) byDomenico Muratori. On the right column of the triumphal arch, above the plaque, there is thePortrait of Cardinal Angelo Maria Querini (1747) byJacopo Zoboli. It also contains an Annunciation byStefano Pieri.
The most famous element of the church is themosaic decorative program. Paschal hired a team of professional mosaicists to complete the work in the apse, the apsidal arch, and the triumphal arch. In the apse, Jesus is in the center, flanked by Sts. Peter and Paul who present Prassede and Pudenziana to God. On the far left is Paschal, with the square halo of the living, presenting a model of the church as an offering to Jesus. Below runs an inscription of Paschal's, hoping that this offering will be sufficient to secure his place in heaven.
On the apsidal arch are twelve men on each side, holding wreaths of victory, welcoming the souls into heaven. Above them are symbols of the four Gospel writers: Mark, the lion; Matthew, the man; Luke, the bull; and John, the eagle, as they surround a lamb on a throne, a symbol of Christ's eventual return to Earth.
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 Santa Prassede (Praxedes),Smarthistory |
Those mosaics, as well as those in the Chapel of Saint Zeno, a funerary chapel which Pope Paschal built for his mother, Theodora,[8] are the best-known aspects of the church.
Santa Prassede also houses an alleged segment of the pillar or column upon whichJesus was flogged before his crucifixion inJerusalem (seeFlagellation of Christ). The relic is alleged to have been discovered in the early 4th century by SaintHelena (mother of theRoman EmperorConstantine I) who at the age of 80 undertook apilgrimage to theHoly Land, where she founded churches for Christian worship and rescued relics associated with the crucifixion of Jesus onCalvary. In 1223, Cardinal Giovanni Colonna, as emissary to the holy land in 1223 was said to have obtained this artifact and brought it to Rome.
Among these legendary relics retrieved by Helena, which included pieces of theTrue Cross (now venerated atSt. Peter's Basilica[9] with fragments inSanta Croce in Gerusalemme, also in Rome) and wood from the Jesus' crib enshrined at S. Maria Maggiore. These items, including the Santa Prassede pillar, lack indisputable authenticity, due to absence of forensic evidence and the abundance of other objects claimed during the medieval period to have the same historic function.[10]
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{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) Klaus Ganzer (1963),Die Entwicklung des auswärtigen Kardinalats im hohen Mittelalter. Ein Beitrag zur Geschichte des Kardinalkollegiums vom 11.bis 13. Jahrhundert(in German), Tübingen: Max Niemeyer, pp. 146-148.
Media related toBasilica di Santa Prassede (Roma) at Wikimedia Commons
| Preceded by San Pietro in Vincoli | Landmarks of Rome Santa Prassede | Succeeded by Santa Pudenziana |
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