Church of Saint Theodore on the Palatine | |
---|---|
San Teodoro al Palatino(in Italian) | |
Entrance to the church. | |
![]() Click on the map for a fullscreen view | |
41°53′25.6″N12°29′5.2″E / 41.890444°N 12.484778°E | |
Location | Via San Teodoro 7, Rome |
Country | Italy |
Denomination | Greek Orthodox |
Tradition | Byzantine Rite |
Website | chiesaortodossa-roma |
History | |
Status | national church |
Dedication | Theodore of Amasea |
Architecture | |
Architect(s) | Carlo Fontana, Francesco Barberini |
Architectural type | Church |
Style | Paleochristian |
Groundbreaking | 6th century |
Completed | 15th century |
San Teodoro (Italian for "Saint Theodore"), informally known as San Toto, [1] is an early medieval church in Rome dedicated to the martyr and warrior saint Theodore of Amasea. Its use was given to the Eastern Orthodox community of Rome by Pope John Paul II in 2004.
The church is located at the northwest foot of the Palatine Hill along the ancient road between Rome's main forum and the Forum Boarium. It may have been erected over the ruins of the granaries of Agrippa [2] or repurposed a former temple of Juno Sospita in the area. [3] The latter is suggested by its unusual round shape, which resembles the well-preserved nymphaeum once identified as the Temple of Minerva Medica. An ancient pagan altar was located in the atrium before the church.
The cult of St Theodore was prominent and widespread by the end of the 4th century and a mosaic including Theodore was erected at SS Cosmas and Damian c. 530. San Teodoro may have been built as early as the 6th century as well. [4] Its apsis mosaic dates to the 6th century and shows Christ in a black robe with gold lati clavi, [2] which on Roman garments indicated high rank, seated on an orb representing the heavens and flanked by Peter and Paul and by the two martyrs Theodore (a later addition, from Nicholas V's restoration) and Cleonicus.
The church is also traditionally one of the seven original deaconries in Rome, being assigned to a deacon by Pope Agatho (c. 678), though the first titular deacon known by name was Roberto, who lived around 1073 and died before 1099.
There is no definitive evidence of the church's existence before the 9th century. As the dedication to an eastern saint suggests, this places it in a period of strong Byzantine influence in Rome. It was rebuilt under Pope Nicholas V, had its long-held titular church status suppressed by Pope Sixtus V, was renovated by Francesco Barberini in 1643, [4] and rebuilt by architect Carlo Fontana in 1703–1705 for Pope Clement XI who gave it to the Society of the Sacred Heart of Jesus.
Its titulus was reestablished on 2 December 1959 by Pope John XXIII, with William Theodore Heard (1959–1970, pro hac vice presbyterial titular 1970–1973). The last titular of the church was Vincenzo Fagiolo, who died on 22 September 2000.
Pope John Paul II announced in November 2000 that he was granting the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople and the Greek Orthodox community in Rome use of the church, with the official inauguration taking place on 1 July 2004, presided over by Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I of Constantinople. [2]
At the back of the atrium, outside the church, is an ossuary with stacked skulls and bones, visible through a grille. The Capitoline Wolf was kept in this church until the 16th century. As a Greek Orthodox church, it now has an iconostasis, or icon screen, that separates the sanctuary from the main body of the church.
Pope Martin I, also known as Martin the Confessor, was the bishop of Rome from 21 July 649 to his death 16 September 655. He had served as Pope Theodore I's ambassador to Constantinople, and was elected to succeed him as pope. He was the only pope when Constantinople controlled the papacy whose election had not awaited imperial mandate. For his strong opposition to Monothelitism, Pope Martin I was arrested by Emperor Constans II, carried off to Constantinople, and ultimately banished to Cherson. He is considered a saint by both the Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox Church, as well as the last pope recognised as a martyr.
Saint Theodore, distinguished as Theodore of Amasea, Theodore the Recruit, and by other names, is a Christian saint and Great Martyr, particularly revered in the Eastern Orthodox Churches but also honored in Roman Catholicism and Oriental Orthodoxy. According to legend, he was a legionary in the Roman army who suffered martyrdom by immolation at Amasea in Galatian Pontus during the Great Persecution under Diocletian in the early 4th century. Venerated by the late 4th century, he became a prominent warrior saint during the Middle Ages, attracted a great deal of additional legends including accounts of battle against dragons, and was often confused with the similar Theodore Stratelates of Heraclea.
The Basilica Papale di San Lorenzo fuori le mura is a Roman Catholic papal minor basilica and parish church, located in Rome, Italy. The Basilica is one of the Seven Pilgrim Churches of Rome and one of the five papal basilicas, each of which was assigned to the care of a Latin Church patriarchate. The basilica was assigned to the Patriarchate of Jerusalem. The basilica is the shrine of the tomb of its namesake, Lawrence, one of the first seven deacons of Rome who was martyred in 258. Many other saints and Pope Pius IX are also buried at the Basilica, which is the centre of a large and ancient burial complex.
In the Catholic Church, a titular church is a church in Rome that is assigned to a member of the clergy who is created a cardinal. These are Catholic churches in the city, within the jurisdiction of the Diocese of Rome, that serve as honorary designations symbolising the relationship of cardinals to the pope, the bishop of Rome. According to the 1983 Code of Canon Law, a cardinal may assist his titular church through counsel or through patronage, although "he has no power of governance over it, and he should not for any reason interfere in matters concerning the administration of its good, or its discipline, or the service of the church".
Aug. 31 - Eastern Orthodox liturgical calendar - Sep. 2
Saint Anastasia is a Christian saint and martyr who died at Sirmium in the Roman province of Pannonia Secunda. In the Eastern Orthodox Church, she is venerated as St. Anastasia the Pharmakolytria, i.e. "Deliverer from Potions". This epithet is also translated as "One who Cures (Wounds)" in Lampe's A Patristic Greek Lexicon.
The Basilica of Saint Mary in Cosmedin is a minor basilican church in Rome, Italy, dedicated to the Virgin Mary. It is located in the rione (neighborhood) of Ripa. Constructed first in the sixth century as a diaconia (deaconry) in an area of the city populated by Greek immigrants, it celebrated Eastern rites and currently serves the Melkite Greek Catholic community of Rome. The church was expanded in the eighth century and renovated in the twelfth century, when a campanile was added. A Baroque facade and interior refurbishment of 1718 were removed in 1894–1899; the exterior was restored to twelfth-century form, while the architecture of the interior recalls the eighth century with twelfth-century furnishings. The narthex of the church contains the famous Bocca della Verità sculpture.
The Basilica of Saint Praxedes, commonly known in Italian as Santa Prassede, is an early medieval titular church and minor basilica located near the papal basilica of Saint Mary Major, on Via di Santa Prassede, rione Monti in Rome, Italy. The current Cardinal Priest of Titulus Sancta Praxedis is Paul Poupard.
There are more than 930 churches in Rome, which makes it the city with the largest number of churches in the world. Almost all of these are Catholic.
San Martino ai Monti, officially known as Santi Silvestro e Martino ai Monti, is a minor basilica in Rome, Italy, in the Rione Monti neighbourhood. It is located near the edge of the Parco del Colle Oppio, near the corner of Via Equizia and Viale del Monte Oppio, about five to six blocks south of Santa Maria Maggiore.
The Minor Basilica of St. Mary in Domnica alla Navicella, or simply Santa Maria in Domnica or Santa Maria alla Navicella, is a Roman Catholic basilica in Rome, Italy, dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary and active in local charity according to its long tradition. It is one of the best examples of the Carolingian Renaissance in Rome. It has been the titular church of Cardinal Marcello Semeraro since 28 November 2020.
Santa Francesca Romana, previously known as Santa Maria Nova, is a Catholic church situated next to the Roman Forum in the rione Campitelli in Rome, Italy.
San Sebastiano al Palatino is a church on the northeastern corner of the Palatine Hill in Rome. It is dedicated to Saint Sebastian, a late-third-century Christian martyr under the reign of Diocletian. According to legend, the church was built on the site of the saint's "first" martyrdom with arrows, which was unsuccessful.
Theodore Stratelates, also known as Theodore of Heraclea, was a martyr and warrior saint in the Eastern Orthodox, Catholic and Oriental Orthodox Churches.
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. 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.
Angelo Amato, S.D.B. was an Italian cardinal of the Catholic Church who served as the Prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints between 2008 and 2018. He served as Secretary of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith from 2002 to 2008 and became a cardinal in 2010.
Santi Vito e Modesto is a Roman Catholic church, and appears to have two facades, a 20th-century marble facade on Via Carlo Alberto, but a rustic brick older entrance, in reality the apse, on the Via San Vito in the Rione Esquilino of Rome, Italy. It has also been called Santi Vito, Modesto e Crescenzia. It is located in the Rione Esquilino, adjacent to the Servian Wall, near the former Monastery of the Viperesche.
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.
Santi Sergio e Bacco al Foro Romano also called Santi Sergio e Bacco sub Capitolio 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.
San Giuseppe al Trionfale is a 20th-century minor basilica and titular church in Rome, located immediately north of the Vatican, dedicated to Saint Joseph.