San Pellegrino in Vaticano

Church of Saint Peregrinus in the Vatican
San Pellegrino in Vaticano San Pellegrino in Naumachia
An 1834 watercolor of the façade of the church painted by Achille Pinelli
Click on the map for a fullscreen view
41°54′18.01″N012°27′25.06″E / 41.9050028°N 12.4569611°E / 41.9050028; 12.4569611
Location	Vatican City, Rome
Country	Italy
Denomination	Roman Catholic
History
Status	Oratory, national church
Architecture
Architectural type	Church
Style	Baroque
Groundbreaking	8th century [1]
Completed	16th century
Specifications
Length	20 metres (66 ft)
Width	9 metres (30 ft)
Clergy
Cardinal protector	Mons. Giulio Viviani [2]

The Church of San Pellegrino in Vaticano (English: Saint Peregrine in the Vatican) 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. ^[3] It is one of the oldest churches in the Vatican City. ^[2]

The church built by Pope Leo III (750 AD - 816 AD) around 800 first received the name of "San Pellegrino in Naumachia", making reference to the naumachia built northwest of the Castel Sant'Angelo and dedicated by Roman emperor Trajan in 109. In the seventeenth century, Pope Clement X granted the church to the Pontifical Swiss Guards, who used it for their religious services in combination with the church of Santi Martino e Sebastiano degli Svizzeri until 1977. Under the name of San Pellegrino degli Svizzeri (English: Saint Peregrine of the Swiss), it became the national church in Rome of Switzerland. The oratory later fell into disrepair but was restored in the 19th century when evidence of the 9th-century frescoes were discovered.

The church now serves as the chapel of the Pontifical Gendarmerie and the firefighters of the Vatican City and is entrusted to the care of the chaplain of the corps —currently Msgr. Giulio Viviani. ^[2]

History

The origins of the church are ancient, dating back to the eighth century. ^[1] This is attested to by several passages in the Liber Pontificalis , ^{[4] [5]} as well as archaeological excavations made by Msgr Anton de Waal in 1888. ^[6] De Waal brought to light ancient paintings dating from the 9th century, and others from the 13th-14th century ^[7] There is a tradition that Charlemagne, on the occasion of his coronation in 800, gave the relics of Peregrine of Auxerre to this church, whence its name. ^[2] Another reason may have been the church's service to pilgrims (Latin : peregrini), since annexed to the church were the Hospitale Francorum, a hospital for French pilgrims, and a cemetery. ^{[3] [8]}

Naumachia Vaticana on a map of ancient Rome around 300 AD

The church was originally called San Pellegrino in Naumachia. ^{[2] [1] [9]} A naumachia, literally "naval combat", is an artificial lake where naval battles were reenacted for an audience. The 5th century "The Passion of Peter and Paul", recounts the crucifixion of St Peter and adds: "Holy men … took down his body secretly and put it under the terebinth tree near the Naumachia, in the place which is called the Vatican". ^[10] The ruins of a structure were excavated in 1743, between via Alberico et via Cola di Rienzo. ^[11] Hülsen suggested that this structure, built close to the Circus of Nero and lying north-west of the later Mausoleum of Hadrian (today's Castel Sant'Angelo), was the naumachia the name of the church was referring to ^[12] and gave it the name of "Naumachia Vaticana". Subsequent excavations have helped to identify its shape, size and orientation. It was a rectangular structure with round internal and external corners, 120 metres (390 ft) wide and, estimating from the excavations, at least 300 metres (980 ft) long, oriented north–south. Esther Boise van Deman identified the style of the brickwork facing the naumachia as trajanic. ^[13] In 1932 Jérôme Carcopino reported the discovery among Fasti Ostienses of the dedication by Emperor Trajan on 11 November 109 of a naumachia. ^[14] The "Naumachia Traiani" has been identified the Naumachia Vaticana. ^{[15] [16]}

Pope Paschal I (d. 824) granted the church to the monastery of Santa Cecilia in Trastevere, and Pope Leo IX (1002–1054) passed it on to the monastery of Santo Stefano degli Abissini. A document in the archives of Santa Maria in Via Lata dating from 1030 records that the church was located on land "outside the gate of Blessed Peter the Apostle, not far away from the Leonine Wall of the city". ^[17] From the thirteenth century onwards, the church belonged to the canons of St. Peter's, who restored it in 1590.

As a consequence of the 1648 Peace of Westphalia, the Pontifical Swiss Guard lost the right to burial in the Teutonic and Flemish Cemetery in the Vatican (Italian : Campo Santo dei Teutonici e dei Fiamminghi) that became reserved exclusively for German nationals. They also lost the use of their little chapel in the Church of Santa Maria della Pietà in Camposanto dei Teutonici. In 1653, Johann Rudolf Pfyffer von Altishofen, commander of the Swiss Guard, obtained from Pope Innocent X the right to use the church of San Pellegrino with the adjoining cemetery. Von Pfyffer von Altishofen is buried in the church. ^[18]

In 1671, Pope Clement X gave it to the Swiss Guard, who used it for their religious services until 1977 in combination with the church of Santi Martino e Sebastiano degli Svizzeri. ^[3] It was considered as the national church in Rome of Switzerland. ^[19] The cemetery of the Swiss is behind the church. For centuries members of the Swiss Guard were buried in the crypt of the church. ^[20] The oratory later fell into disrepair but was restored in the 19th century, when evidence of frescoes of the 9th century were found, as well as of others of the 13th and 14th centuries which include a depiction of Christ Pantocrator.

It was made the chapel of the Gendarmerie and the firefighters of Vatican City in 1977. ^[2]

Architecture

The oldest parts of today's building date from the 15th century. The church received many new elements of decoration in the 12th and 18th century. Between the 13th and 15th centuries, several Popes such as Innocent III, Gregory IX, Boniface IX and Nicholas V, had a special interest in the church of San Pellegrino.

Exterior

The Pontifical Swiss Guard commissioned in 1671 the church's façade in neoclassical style. ^[3] It is a simple façade with a pair of doubled Doric columns that supports a large entablature crowned by a triangular pediment. The large round-headed niche above the entrance is decorated with a representation of St. Peregrinus. ^[21]

Interior

The tombs of past captains of the Swiss Guard are located in the church as well. ^{[2] [3]}

Frescoes

Inside are the remains of some ancient frescoes, including a fresco of Christ Pantocrator. ^{[2] [3]} In the original building, only the apse was decorated with frescoes.

Wooden ceiling

The ceiling of the church is decorated with a wooden coffer, popular during the Renaissance and Baroque periods, and likely dates back to the 17th century. Among its blue, green and yellow gold coffers, the coats of arms of Swiss Guard commanders like the lilies of the family Pfyffer von Altishofen ^[18] and the flower the Röist family were inserted.

See also

• Index of Vatican City-related articles

Notes

1. Nibby 1839
2. Gori 2008
3. Paolucci, Antonio (May 30, 2010). "La fede dei viaggiatori e il sangue degli eroi". L'Osservatore Romano (in Italian). Retrieved May 20, 2011.
4. Duchesne 1886
5. Davis 1992
6. de Waal 1889
7. Dykmans 1967 , pp. 581–584
8. Molard 1896
9. Gregorovius 2010 , p. 24
10. Barnes, Arthur (2006), St. Peter in Rome and His Tomb on the Vatican Hill, Kessinger Publishing, ISBN   978-1-4286-5075-6
11. Ball Platner 1929
12. Jordan & Hülsen 1907 , pp. 660–662
13. Boise van Deman 1912 , pp. 416–417
14. Carcopino 1932 , p. 375
15. Bennett 1997 , pp. 150–151
16. Richardson 1992
17. Latin : … foris portam b. Petri apostoli non longe a muris civitatis Leonianae.
18. Website of the Papal Swiss Guards. "The Pfyffer von Altischofen" . Retrieved 4 May 2011.^{[ permanent dead link ]}
19. Howard & De Montebello 1983
20. Command of the Swiss guards. "The Lateran pact". Vatican State. Retrieved 2 January 2011.^{[ permanent dead link ]}
21. Patrons of the Arts in the Vatican Museums 2001 , p. 145

References

• Armellini, Mariano (1891), "Rione Borgo", 'Le chiese di Roma dal secolo IV al XIX (in Italian), Roma, pp. 786–787, retrieved 29 April 2011
• Ball Platner, Samuel (1929), "Naumachia Vaticana", A Topographical Dictionary of Ancient Rome, London: Oxford University Press, retrieved 6 May 2011.
• Bennett, Julian (1997), Trajan : optimus princeps : a life and times (2. ed.), London: Routledge, pp. 150–151, ISBN   978-0-415-16524-2 , retrieved 24 May 2011
• Birch, Debra J. (2000), Pilgrimage to Rome in the Middle Ages : continuity and change, Woodbridge, Suffolk, UK: Boydell Press, p. 130, ISBN   978-0-85115-771-9
• Boise van Deman, Esther (1912), "Methods of Determining the Date of Roman Concrete Monuments (second paper)", American Journal of Archaeology, Archaeological Institute of America, 16 (3): 387–432, doi:10.2307/497195, JSTOR   497195, S2CID   245264922 , retrieved 6 May 2011
• Carcopino, Jérôme (1932), "Note sur un Nouveau Fragment des Fastes d'Ostie" (PDF), Comptes rendus des séances de l'Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres (in French), Ministère de la jeunesse, de l’éducation nationale et de la recherche, Direction de l’enseignement supérieur, Sous-direction des bibliothèques et de la documentation (4): 363–381, archived from the original (PDF) on 2015-09-24
• Davis, Raymond, ed. (1995), Liber Pontificalis – The lives of the ninth-century popes : the ancient biographies of ten popes from AD 817-891, Liverpool: Liverpool Univ. Press, p. 18, ISBN   0-85323-479-5 , retrieved 25 May 2011
• de Waal, Anton (1889), "Ein Christusbild aus der Zeit Leo's III", Römische Quartalschrift für christliche Altertumskunde und Kirchengeschichte (in German), Rom: Tipografia Sociale, 3: 386–390
• Duschesne, Louis, ed. (1886–92), "2", Le Liber Pontificalis -Texte, introduction et commentaire (in French), Paris: E. Thorin, OCLC   1941523
• Duchesne, Louis (1902), "Naumachia, Obélisque et Térébinthe", Dissertazioni della Pontificia Accademia Romana di Archeologia (in French), Vatican City: Tipografia della Pace, 8 (2): 355–390, OCLC   4974708 , retrieved 29 April 2011
• Dykmans, Marc (1967), "Du Monte Mario à l'escalier de Saint-Pierre de Rome" (PDF), Mélanges d'archéologie et d'histoire (in French), École française de Rome, 80 (2): 547–594, doi:10.3406/mefr.1968.7561, archived from the original (PDF) on 24 September 2015, retrieved 30 April 2011
• Forcella, Vincenzo (1869), "Part II: San Pellegrino al Vaticano", Iscrizioni delle chiese e d'altri edificii di Roma dal secolo 11 fino ai giorni nostri (in Italian), vol. VI, Roma: Tip. delle scienze matematiche e fisiche, pp. 247–261, retrieved 11 May 2011
• Frothingham, Arthur L. (January–June 1887), "Archaeological News", The American Journal of Archaeology and of the History of the Fine Arts, Baltimore: John Murphy & Co., III (1 & 2): 192, retrieved May 20, 2011.
• Gori, Nicola (2008), "Scrigno d'arte e luogo di preghiera per dipendenti e pellegrini", L'Osservatore Romano (in Italian), Vatican State, retrieved 1 January 2011
• Gregorovius, Ferdinand (2010) [1894-1902], "Book V – The city of Rome in the Carolingian Epoch up to year 900", in Annie Hamilton (ed.), History of the City of Rome in the Middle Ages, vol. 3, Cambridge University Press, p. 27, ISBN   978-1-108-01502-8 , retrieved 2 January 2011
• Howard, Kathleen; De Montebello, Philippe (1983), The Vatican:spirit and art of Christian Rome , Malibu: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, p.  152, ISBN   0-87099-348-8, In the seventeenth century, the church became the chapel of the Swiss Guard and was considered the national church of the Swiss in Rome.
• Hülsen, Christian (1927), Le chiese di Roma nel Medio Evo (in Italian), Florence: Leo S. Olschki, pp. 477–478, retrieved 29 April 2011
• Hülsen, Christian (1902). "Della Naumachia nel Medio Evo". Il Gaianum e la naumachia Vaticana. pp. 374–379. OCLC   4974708 . Retrieved 29 April 2011.{{cite book}}: |journal= ignored (help)
• Jordan, Henri; Hülsen, Christian (1907), "Die Insel. Die Stadttheile am Rechten Tiberufer", Topographie der stadt Rom im alterthum (in German), Berlin: Weidmannsche Buchhandlung, pp. 622–669, retrieved 6 May 2011
• Mancinelli, Fabrizio (1982), "La chiesa di San Pellegrino in Vaticano e il suo restauro", Bollettino Monumenti Musei e Gallerie Pontificie (in Italian), Rome: Tipografia Poliglotta Vaticana, 3: 43–62.
• Molard, Francis (1896), "L'église de Saint Pellerin à Rome", in Bulletin de la Société des Sciences Historiques et naturelles de l'Yonne (ed.), Etudes Hagiographiques (in French), Auxerre: Perriquet, pp. 618–619, retrieved 27 May 2011
• Moroni, Gaetano (1855), "Svizzera", Dizionario di erudizione storico-ecclesiastica da S. Pietro sino ai nostri giorni (in Italian), vol. 72, Tipografia Emiliana, pp. 239–240, retrieved 11 May 2011
• Nibby, Antonio (1839), "S. Pellegrino degli Svizzeri", in Tipografia delle belle arti (ed.), Roma nell'anno MDCCCXXXVIII (in Italian), vol. 2, p. 586, OCLC   4147982 , retrieved 1 January 2011, "Chiesina (…), eretta da s. Leone III., circa l'anno 800 in onore di s. Pellegrino vescovo e martire, il cui corpo, si conserva nella Basilica Vaticana. (…) In altri tempi ebbevi congiunto uno spedale assai vasto, fondato per accogliere i pellegrini venuti a visitare i luoghi santi di Roma."
• Osbourne, John (1994), "New evidence for the mural decorations in the apse of S. Pellegrino in Naumachia", Bollettino. Monumenti, Musei e Gallerie Pontificie, XIV: 103–111.
• Paolucci, Antonio (30 May 2010), "La fede dei viaggiatori e il sangue degli eroi", L'Osservatore Romano (in Italian), Vatican State: Vatican State, retrieved 1 January 2011
• Rendina, Claudio (2007), Le chiese di Roma : storie, leggende e curiosità degli edifici sacri della Città Eterna, dai templi pagani alle grandi basiliche, dai conventi ai monasteri ai luoghi di culto in periferia (in Italian), Roma: Newton Compton, p. 290, ISBN   978-88-541-0931-5
• Richardson, Lawrence (1992), "Naumachia Traiani", A new topographical dictionary of ancient Rome (2 ed.), Baltimore, Md.: Johns Hopkins University Press, pp.  266, ISBN   0-8018-4300-6 , retrieved 25 May 2011, "It gave its name to San Pellegrino in Naumachia (…) in the 6th to 11th centuries the name Naumachiae came to be applied to a very large area stretching from the Vatican Hill to the Castel Sant'Angelo"
• Viviani, Giulio (2010), La cappella di San Pellegrino nella Città del Vaticano (in Italian), Vatican State: Libreria Editrice Vaticana, ISBN   978-88-209-8371-0
• Webb, Matilda (2001), The Churches and Catacombs of Early Christian Rome, Brighton: Sussex Academic Press, p. 34, ISBN   1-902210-57-3
• Wishbook 2011- Coffered Wooden Ceiling of San Pellegrino Vatican City (PDF), Patrons of the Arts in the Vatican Museums, 2010, archived from the original (PDF) on 28 July 2011, retrieved 1 January 2011

External links

• The Vatican: spirit and art of Christian Rome, a book from The Metropolitan Museum of Art Libraries (fully available online as PDF), which contains material on this church (pp. 151–2)