Mausoleum of Helena

Last updated
Mausoleum of Helena
Villa-fiori 092.jpg
The Mausoleum of Helena
Mausoleum of Helena
Click on the map for a fullscreen view
Location Regio IX Circus Flaminius
Coordinates 41°52′44.04″N12°32′55.72″E / 41.8789000°N 12.5488111°E / 41.8789000; 12.5488111
Type Mausoleum
History
Builder Augustus
Founded28 BC

The Mausoleum of Helena is an ancient building in Rome, Italy, located on the Via Casilina, corresponding to the 3rd mile of the ancient Via Labicana. It was built by the Roman emperor Constantine I between 326 and 330, originally as a tomb for himself, but later assigned to his mother, Helena, who died in 330.

Contents

History

The area where the mausoleum is located is part of a late-Roman complex of building known as Ad Duas Lauros, [1] which, according to ancient sources, [2] extended from the Porta Maggiore until the third mile of the ancient Via Labicana. They include the Catacombs of Marcellinus and Peter and the Palaeo-Christian basilica with the same name; of the latter, little remains today, as it was used as the base for the modern church of Santi Marcellino e Pietro ad Duas Lauros.

Access to the mausoleum and the catacombs is to the west of the church.

Before the construction of the mausoleum, the area was used as a cemetery of the Equites singulares. This has been attested by numerous inscriptions mentioning the Equites at Ad Duas Lauros, although the exact location of the necropolis has not been discovered. It has been supposed that the necropolis was deliberately destroyed by Constantine as a revenge against the Equites who, in the battle of Ponte Milvio, sided with Maxentius against him.

After the death of Helena, Ad Duas Lauros was assigned to the Roman popes. The mausoleum was damaged by the use of its materials for other constructions. In the 8th century it became a defensive fortress. However, it continued to house Helena's tomb until the 11th century, when the sarcophagus was brought to the Lateran (currently it is in the Vatican Museum).

The Sarcophagus of Helena. Helena tomb.jpg
The Sarcophagus of Helena.

Lanzoni [3] and Duchesne [4] place in this area the town known as Subaugusta, whose name referred to the Augusta Helena, and which for a while formed a small diocese, four of whose bishops took part in synods held at Rome between 465 and 502. [5] The see is included in the Catholic Church's list of titular sees. [6]

Architecture

The building is on the circular plan, and is constituted by two cylinders, the upper one being of smaller diameter (27.74 metres (91.0 ft), internal diameter 20.18 metres (66.2 ft)). The original height was 25.42 metres (83.4 ft), while today it has reduced to some 18 metres (59 ft).

Internally, the lower cylinder has an octagonal shape. At the vertexes are niches, alternatively rectangular and semicircular; one of them housed the entrance. In correspondence with the niche, in the upper ring, were eight arcaded windows. In order to obtain a lighter dome, it included fragments of amphorae (such as in the Temple of Romulus or the Mausoleum of Villa Gordiani), which are now visible after the vault has collapsed. This led to the medieval name of the mausoleum, Torpignattara (Torre delle pignatte, meaning "Tower of the Vases"), today also used for the quarter which has grown around.

The rectangular niche facing the entrance most likely contained the sarcophagus of Helena, in red porphyry. The external walls of the sarcophagus are decorated with war scenes, as it was probably originally to be used for Helena's son, the emperor Constantine.

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Catacombs of Rome</span> Ancient burial places in Rome, Italy

The Catacombs of Rome are ancient catacombs, underground burial places in and around Rome, of which there are at least forty, some rediscovered only in recent decades.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Circus of Nero</span> Ancient Roman circus in Rome

The so-called Circus of Nero or Circus of Caligula was a circus in ancient Rome, located mostly in the present-day Vatican City.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Saint Peter's tomb</span> Site under St. Peters Basilica to memorialize the location of St. Peters grave

Saint Peter's tomb is a site under St. Peter's Basilica that includes several graves and a structure said by Vatican authorities to have been built to memorialize the location of Saint Peter's grave. St. Peter's tomb is alleged near the west end of a complex of mausoleums, the Vatican Necropolis, that date between about AD 130 and AD 300. The complex was partially torn down and filled with earth to provide a foundation for the building of the first St. Peter's Basilica during the reign of Constantine I in about AD 330. Though many bones have been found at the site of the 2nd-century shrine, as the result of two campaigns of archaeological excavation, Pope Pius XII stated in December 1950 that none could be confirmed to be Saint Peter's with absolute certainty. Following the discovery of bones that had been transferred from a second tomb under the monument, on June 26, 1968, Pope Paul VI said that the relics of Saint Peter had been identified in a manner considered convincing. Only circumstantial evidence was provided to support the claim.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Monte Zappi</span> Mountain in Italy

Monte Zappi is a peak in the Monti Lucretili, in Lazio, central Italy. It has an elevation of 1,271 metres (4,170 ft) and is the highest peak visible from Rome looking westwards. It is located in the province of Rome, in the communal territories of Palombara Sabina and San Polo dei Cavalieri.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Constantina</span> Daughter of Roman emperor Constantine I

Flavia Valeria Constantina, later known as Saint Constance, was the eldest daughter of Roman emperor Constantine the Great and his second wife Fausta, daughter of Emperor Maximian. Constantina may have received the title of Augusta from her father, and is venerated as a saint, having developed a medieval legend wildly at variance with what is known of her actual character.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Santa Costanza</span> Church in Rome, Italy

Santa Costanza is a 4th-century church in Rome, Italy, on the Via Nomentana, which runs north-east out of the city. It is a round building with well preserved original layout and mosaics. It has been built adjacent to a horseshoe-shaped church, now in ruins, which has been identified as the initial 4th-century cemeterial basilica of Saint Agnes. Santa Costanza and the old Saint Agnes were both constructed over the earlier catacombs in which Saint Agnes is believed to be buried.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Orte</span> Comune in Lazio, Italy

Orte is a town, comune, former Catholic bishopric and Latin titular see in the province of Viterbo, in the central Italian region of Lazio, located about 60 kilometres (37 mi) north of Rome and about 24 kilometres (15 mi) east of Viterbo.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nereus and Achilleus</span> Roman Christian martyrs

Nereus and Achilleus are two Roman martyr saints. In the present General Roman Calendar, revised in 1969, Nereus and Achilleus (together) are celebrated on 12 May.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Santi Marcellino e Pietro al Laterano</span> Church in Rome, Italy

Santi Marcellino e Pietro al Laterano is a Roman catholic parish and titular church in Rome on the Via Merulana. One of the oldest churches in Rome, it is dedicated to Saints Marcellinus and Peter, 4th century Roman martyrs, whose relics were brought here in 1256.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Roman Catholic Suburbicarian Diocese of Porto–Santa Rufina</span> Latin Catholic diocese in Italy

The Diocese of Porto–Santa Rufina is a Latin suburbicarian diocese of the Diocese of Rome and a diocese of the Catholic Church in Italy. It was formed from the union of two dioceses. The diocese of Santa Rufina was also formerly known as Silva Candida.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marcellinus and Peter</span>

Saints Marcellinus and Peter are venerated within the Catholic Church as martyrs who were beheaded. Hagiographies place them in 4th century Rome. They are generally represented as men in middle age, with tonsures and palms of martyrdom; sometimes they hold a crown each.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Catacombs of Marcellinus and Peter</span> Ancient Rome artifact

The Catacombs of Marcellinus and Peter are found approximately three kilometers from southeast Rome and the ancient Via Labicana, and date to the 4th century AD. The catacombs were named in reference to the Christian martyrs Marcellinus and Peter who may have been buried there according to legend, near the body of St. Tiburtius.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vatican Necropolis</span> Part of Vatican City

The Vatican Necropolis lies under the Vatican City, at depths varying between 5–12 metres below Saint Peter's Basilica. The Vatican sponsored archaeological excavations under Saint Peter's in the years 1940–1949 which revealed parts of a necropolis dating to Imperial times. The work was undertaken at the request of Pope Pius XI who wished to be buried as close as possible to Peter the Apostle. It is also home to the Tomb of the Julii, which has been dated to the third or fourth century. The necropolis was not originally one of the Catacombs of Rome, but an open-air cemetery with tombs and mausolea.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Catacombs of Saint Agnes</span> Catacomb in Rome, Italy

The Catacomb of Saint Agnes is one of the catacombs of Rome, placed at the second mile of via Nomentana, inside the monumental complex of Sant'Agnese fuori le mura, in the Quartiere Trieste.

The Catacombs of San Valentino is one of the catacombs of Rome (Italy), placed at the 2nd mile of the via Flaminia, now in Viale Maresciallo Pilsudski, in the modern Pinciano neighborhood.

By the size of the Roman army is meant the changes in the number of its contingents: legions, auxiliaries, Praetorian cohorts, Urban cohorts, vigiles, and naval forces over the course of twelve centuries – from 753 BC to AD 476.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Santi Marcellino e Pietro ad Duas Lauros</span>

Santi Marcellino e Pietro ad Duas Lauros is a church in the Prenestino-Labicano quarter of Rome, Italy. Located on the ancient Via Labicana on land once owned by Helena, mother of Constantine, it was along the southern part of the Via Francigena.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Castra of ancient Rome</span>

The castra of ancient Rome represent the complex of camps that housed the various military corps located in the city of Rome.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Prenestino-Labicano</span> Quartiere of Rome in Lazio, Italy

Prenestino-Labicano is the 7th quartiere of Rome (Italy), identified by the initials Q. VII. The name derives from the ancient roads Via Prenestina and Via Labicana, today the initial stretch of Via Casilina. It belongs to the Municipio V and Municipio VII.

References

Citations

  1. Ad Duas Lauros website Archived 2010-05-18 at the Wayback Machine
  2. Liber Pontificalis , 314 AD
  3. Francesco Lanzoni, Le diocesi d'Italia dalle origini al principio del secolo VII (an. 604), vol. I, Faenza 1927, pp. 120–126
  4. Louis Duchesne, Le sedi episcopali nell'antico ducato di Roma, in Archivio della romana società di storia patria, Volume XV, Roma 1892, p. 497
  5. Giuseppe Cappelletti, Le Chiese d'Italia, vol. I, p. 623
  6. Annuario Pontificio 2013 (Libreria Editrice Vaticana, 2013, ISBN   978-88-209-9070-1), p. 977

Sources

Commons-logo.svg Media related to Mausoleo di Sant'Elena (Rome) at Wikimedia Commons

Preceded by
Mausoleum of Augustus
Landmarks of Rome
Mausoleum of Helena
Succeeded by
Mausoleum of Maxentius