Santi Sergio e Bacco al Foro Romano (Italian: Saints Sergius and Bacchus at the Roman Forum) also called Santi Sergio e Bacco sub Capitolio (Saints Sergius and Bacchus under the Capitoline) was an ancient titular church in Rome, now lost. Located in the ruins of the Roman Forum, it had been one of the ancient diaconiae of the city and a collect church for one of the station days of Lent, but it was demolished in the sixteenth century.
The church was dedicated to the fourth-century Syrian martyrs Sergius and Bacchus, and was one of four churches in Rome listed by the ninth-century Liber Pontificalis as being named in their honor. (The only one that survives today is Santi Sergio e Bacco in Callinico.) Its epithets, listed by Christian Hülsen, [2] were sub Capitolio or retro Capitolium, both of which refer to its position in the Forum, which is "under" or "behind" the Capitoline Hill.
The church was constructed up against the Arch of Septimius Severus. [3] Mariano Armellini notes that it had a small campanile that was constructed on the attic of the arch, [3] but Rodolfo Lanciani maintains that that tower was not connected to the church, having been pulled down in 1636, much later than the church itself. He supports his claim with a report of the city council of Rome that appropriated the tower's materials for the church of Santa Martina. [1] Lanciani further points out that Santi Sergio e Bacco was the only church in the Roman Forum that "did not occupy the site of an ancient building, but stood in its own ground." [1]
Before its destruction the church served as the ecclesia collecta for Tuesday of the third week of Lent, meaning that it was the meeting point for the papal procession that then moved to the day's station, Santa Pudenziana. [4]
The church was one of the ancient deaconries of the city, which were set up in order to distribute alms and food to the poor. One of the libri pontificales records that the Syrian Pope Gregory III (731–741) had performed a major expansion of the church in the early 700s, which had been up until then a small oratory. [1] [3] [5]
It was, however, apparently already in bad condition by the pontificate of Pope Adrian I (772–795), who rebuilt it. [2] [3] An anonymous pilgrim of Einsiedeln, writing in the same century, refers to it as S. Sergii, ibi umbilicum ("[the church] of Saint Sergius, near the umbilicus ). [2] It later appears in an 1199 bull of Pope Innocent III, which defines its rights and privileges and lists the churches of San Salvatore de statera and San Lorenzo sub Capitolio as its dependents. [2] (In 1190, Innocent, as Lotario di Segni, had inherited the church as his cardinal deaconry and donated a basilica shrine, a silver chalice, and altar vestments to it. [6] ) Innocent III also erected a facade on the church consisting of a porch supported by many columns, [1] [3] and the following inscription: [3]
| PENE RVI, QVASI NVLLA FVI, SED ME RELEVAVIT LOTHARIVS [...] PRIVS POSTQVAM RENOVAVIT. DEQVE MEO PREMIO SVMPTVS PATER VRBIS ET ORBIS. HOC TAMEN EX PROPRIO FECIT MIHI SIC RENOVOR BIS | I was almost ruined; I was near to nothing before, but Lothario raised me up again [...] after he renewed me. And then the Father of the City and the World took me up as a prize. Yet from his very own [resources] he made me; I am therefore renewed once more. |
It was further enriched with donations by Leo III (795–816) and Gregory IV (827–844). [2]
Records of the church reappear with the 1461 Liber Anniversariorum Sancti Salvatoris ad Sancta Sanctorum and a catalogue of Roman churches in 1492. [2] [7] It did not, however, last longer than a century after that.
While both Lanciani and Armellini record the popular belief that the church was demolished by order of Pope Paul III in order to enable the triumphal march of Emperor Charles V through the Arch of Septimius Severus in 1536, [1] [3] Hülsen contests that story. [2] To support his argument, Hülsen references the record of Michele Lonigo, who wrote that the church, "being reduced to meager terms, was destroyed after many years, and the relics of Saints Felicissimus and Agapitus and the body of Saint Vincent that were there, were placed in the nearby church of the Consolazione." [2] [3] The transfer of those relics occurred in 1562, with Ascanio Cesarini overseeing the process by appointment of Pope Pius IV. [2] (An inscription was placed behind the altar of Santa Maria della Consolazione to commemorate it, but that appears to have been lost. [2] ) Since the transfer of the relics occurred thirty years after the visit of Charles V, Hulsen concludes that the church could not have been demolished for that reason.
Whatever the reason for its destruction, it was certainly gone by the end of the 16th century, when its incomes were transferred into a prebend for a simple canonry of eighty crowns in the chapel of Saints Sergius and Bacchus in the nearby church of Sant'Adriano al Foro (now deconsecrated and despoiled, remains only visible as the Curia Julia). [3] Proof of this is a catalogue dating from the pontificate of Pope Pius V (1566–1572), which states: Sto. Sergio e Baccho sotto Campid[oglio]; ruinato ("Saints Sergius and Bacchus under the Capitoline: ruined"). [2] The remains of its apse were still extant until 1812, when they were finally removed during excavation of the nearby Temple of Vespasian. [2] [3]
The title of Cardinal Titular Church of Santi Sergio e Bacco was suppressed in 1587. [8]
Coordinates: 41°53′34″N12°29′4.8″E / 41.89278°N 12.484667°E
Pope Innocent I was the bishop of Rome from 401 to his death on 12 March 417. He may have been the son of his predecessor, Anastasius I. From the beginning of his papacy, he was seen as the general arbitrator of ecclesiastical disputes in both the East and the West. He confirmed the prerogatives of the Archbishop of Thessalonica, and issued a decretal on disciplinary matters referred to him by the Bishop of Rouen. He defended the exiled John Chrysostom and consulted with the bishops of Africa concerning the Pelagian controversy, confirming the decisions of the African synods. The Catholic priest-scholar Johann Peter Kirsch, 1500 years later, described Innocent as a very energetic and highly gifted individual "...who fulfilled admirably the duties of his office".
The Basilica of Santa Maria in Trastevere ; English: Our Lady in Trastevere) is a titular minor basilica in the Trastevere district of Rome, and one of the oldest churches of Rome. The basic floor plan and wall structure of the church date back to the 340s, and much of the structure to 1140–43. The first sanctuary was built in 221 and 227 by Pope Callixtus I and later completed by Pope Julius I. The church has large areas of important mosaics from the late 13th century by Pietro Cavallini.
Saints Sergiusand Bacchus were fourth-century Roman Christian soldiers revered as martyrs and military saints by the Catholic, Eastern Orthodox and Oriental Orthodox Churches. Their feast day is 7 October.
The origins of the papal tiara remain somewhat nebulous and clouded in mystery, first appearing in the Early Middle Ages, but developing a recognizable form in the High Middle Ages, after the Great Schism of 1054. The word tiara itself occurs in the classical annals to denote a Persian headdress, particularly that of the "great king". A camelaucum which was similar in shape to papal tiaras, was part of court dress in Byzantium; it was also inspired by the Phrygian cap, or frigium. Given that other rituals associated with the Papal Coronation, notably the use of the sedia gestatoria, were copied from Byzantine and eastern imperial ceremonial, it is likely that the tiara is also of Byzantine origin.
Campitelli is the 10th rione of Rome, identified by the initials R. X, and is located in the Municipio I.
The Basilica of St. Mary of the Altar of Heaven is a titular basilica in Rome, located on the highest summit of the Campidoglio. It is still the designated Church of the city council of Rome, which uses the ancient title of Senatus Populusque Romanus. The present Cardinal Priest of the Titulus Sanctae Mariae de Aracoeli is Salvatore De Giorgi.
There are more than 900 churches in Rome, including some notable Roman Catholic Marian churches. Most, but not all, of these are Roman Catholic.
Sergius was the name of a Roman Patrician Gens, Sergia, originally from Alba Longa. It is also found as Sergios. It may refer to:
Santa Sofia a Via Boccea is a church in Rome, Italy. It is dedicated to Holy Wisdom, one of the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit. It served as the mother church of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church while St. George's Cathedral in Lviv was controlled by the Russian Orthodox Church.
Santi Sergio e Bacco is a Catholic church of the Byzantine Rite located on Piazza Madonna dei Monti in the rione of Monti in Rome, Italy. Saints Sergius and Bacchus are said to have been early fourth-century Roman military officers and Christian martyrs buried in Syria. In the 9th century the church was known as Sergius and Bacchus in Callinico, in the Middle Ages as Sergius and Bacchus de Suburra, and from the 18th century forward has been known also as the church of Madonna del Pascolo. Since 1970 it has been a national church of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church in Rome and was known officially as the "Parish of Ukrainian Catholics of Madonna del Pascolo and Saints Sergius and Bacchus." Since 2019 the church serves as a cathedral for the Ukrainian Catholic Apostolic Exarchate of Italy.
The Church of Saint Lucy in Selci is an ancient Roman Catholic church, located in Rome, dedicated to Saint Lucy, a 4th-century virgin and martyr.
The Church of Saints Martin and Sebastian of the Swiss is a Roman Catholic oratory in Vatican City. The church was built by Pope Pius V in 1568 to serve as a private chapel for the Pontifical Swiss Guards, whose barracks are located next to Porta San Pellegrino, close to the Apostolic Palace. It is considered the national church of Switzerland in Rome.
The Church of San Pellegrino in Vaticano is an ancient Roman Catholic oratory in the Vatican City, located on the Via dei Pellegrini. The church is dedicated to Saint Peregrine of Auxerre, a Roman priest appointed by Pope Sixtus II who had suffered martyrdom in Gaul in the third century. It is one of the oldest churches in the Vatican City.
Maffeo Gherardi (1406–1492) was an Italian Roman Catholic bishop and cardinal.
The Church of San Lorenzo in Piscibus is a 12th-century small church in the Borgo rione of Rome. It is located near Saint Peter's Square and Vatican City, but its façade is not visible from the main street, Via della Conciliazione.
San Trifone in Posterula was an ancient titular church of Rome, now lost. It was located at the corner of Via dei Portoghesi and Via della Scrofa, in the Campo Marzio rione of the city.
Santa Maria in Turri was an ancient church in the city of Rome, demolished in the Renaissance. It adjoined the outside atrium of the ancient Basilica of St. Peter, one of a complex of small churches or oratories that grew up around the site.
Santa Lucia in Septisolio was an ancient Roman church with a diaconia. It formerly stood at the base of the Palatine Hill, near the Septizodium of Septimius Severus, from which it took its name. The date of its destruction is not certain, although it seems to have disappeared definitively after the pontificate of Sixtus V (1585–1590).
San Ciriaco de Camiliano was an ancient church of the city of Rome, formerly located on the present site of the Piazza del Collegio Romano near the Via del Corso. It was demolished in 1491 during construction on the church of Santa Maria in Via Lata.
Sant'Agata in Trastevere is one of the churches of Rome, located in the Trastevere district, at Largo San Giovanni de Matha, 91.