San Giorgio in Velabro

San Giorgio in Velabro is a church in Rome, Italy, dedicated to St. George.

San Giorgio in Velabro
Church of Saint George in the Velabrum
Chiesa di San Giorgio in Velabro
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41°53′22.31″N 12°28′59.29″E
LocationVia del Velabro 19, Rome
CountryItaly
Language(s)Italian
DenominationCatholic
TraditionRoman Rite
Religious orderCanons Regular of the Order of the Holy Cross
Websitesangiorgioinvelabro.com
History
Statustitular church
DedicationSaint George
Architecture
StylePaleochristian, Romanesque
Groundbreaking7th century AD
Administration
DioceseRome
Interior of San Giorgio.

The church is located next to the Arch of Janus in the rione of Ripa in the ancient Roman Velabrum. According to the founding legend of Rome, the church was built where Roman history began: it is near here that the mythical she-wolf found the mythical babies, Romulus and Remus.[1] The façade of the church encroaches upon and incorporates the ancient Arcus Argentariorum.

San Giorgio in Velabro is the station church for the first Thursday in Lent.

History

An inscription, dated in 461 or 482, found in the catacombs of St. Callixtus, probably refers of a church in the same zone, "LOCVS AVGVSTI LECTORIS DE BELABRV", though there is nothing to connect the lector with S. Giorgio.[2]

The first religious building attested in the place of the current church is a diaconia, funded by Pope Gregory I. In September or October 598, Pope Gregory wrote to the abbot Marinianus, that, since his monastery was next door to the church of Saint George «Ad sedem», and since the church had fallen into decay, he granted the church to the monastery provided that they repair and keep up the premises, and solemnly observe the liturgical offices.[3] This has been taken as a reference to S. Giorgio in Velabro, though, as Batiffol points out, nowhere else is the phrase «Ad sedem» connected with the Velabrum or San Giorgio.[4] Additionally, the restoration of the church is to be for the purpose of liturgical celebrations, and is to belong to the monastery in perpetuity, not to a cardinal deacon for diaconal activities.

The current church was built during the 7th century, possibly by Pope Leo II (682–683), who dedicated it to Saint Sebastian.[5] The church's plan is irregular, indeed slightly trapezoidal, as a result of the frequent additions to the building. As can be seen from the lower photograph, the interior columns are almost randomly arranged having been taken from sundry Roman temples.

The church was inside the Greek quarter of Rome, where Greek-speaking merchants, civil and military officers and monks of the Byzantine Empire lived — the nearby Santa Maria in Cosmedin, for example, was known as in Schola Graeca at the time. Pope Zachary (741-752), who was of Greek origin, moved the relic of St. George to here from Cappadocia, so that this saint had a church dedicated in the West well before the spreading of his worship with the return of the Crusaders from the East.

In 1347, the Roman patriot Cola Di Rienzo posted a manifesto announcing the liberation of Rome on the doors of this church.[6]

Restorations

After a restoration of Pope Gregory IV (9th century), the church received the addition of the portico and of the tower bell in the first half of the 13th century. The apse was decorated with frescoes by Pietro Cavallini in the 13th century.

Between 1923 and 1926, the Superintendent of Monuments of Rome, Antonio Muñoz, completed a more radical restoration programme, with the aim of restoring the building's "medieval character" and freeing it from later additions. This was done by returning the floor to its original level (and so exposing the column bases) reopening the ancient windows that gave light to the central nave, restoring the apsis, and generally removing numerous accretions from the other most recent restorations. During this process, fragments (now displayed on the internal walls) were found, which indicated that a schola cantorum had existed on the site, which could be attributed to the period of Pope Gregory IV.

Car bomb

The building as we see it today is largely a product of the 1920s restoration. However, the explosion, at midnight on 27 July 1993, of a car bomb parked close to the facade, required five years' further restoration. That explosion caused no fatalities but left the 12th century portico almost totally collapsed and blew a large opening into the wall of the main church. Serious damage was also inflicted on the residence next door of the Generalate of the Crosiers (Canons Regular of the Order of the Holy Cross). The Ministry of Cultural Heritage catalogued what was damaged or destroyed, placing the fragments in 1050 crates. Experts researched dates and locational references before restoring the building with them, although some details, particularly in the portico, were deliberately left unrestored as a memorial to the bombing.

Cardinal-Deacons

The church was established as a Deaconry in the reign of Pope Gregory I (590–604).

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  • Giuseppe Ugolini (1838)
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  • Francesco de' Medici di Ottaiano (1856–1857)[54]
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  • Antonio Matteucci (1866)[55]
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See also

References
  1. History of the Church of San Giorgio in Velabro, The attack of July 1993 http://www.sangiorgioinvelabro.org/eng/storia.html Archived 2020-10-20 at the Wayback Machine Cristina Mazzoni, She-Wolf: The Story of a Roman Icon (Cambridge: CUP 2010), p. 162.
  2. Cozza-Luzi, pp. 64-65: Dopo ciò qualunque eopca si voglia dare all'epitafio di Augusto, questo non avrebbe ratione assoluta di darci notizia che esistesse a quel tempo la chiesa di cui trattiamo." He makes it clear that the stone actually contains two inscriptions, from different hands and of different dates.
  3. Jaffé I, p. 181, no. 1531. J.P. Migne, Patrologiae Latinae Cursus Completus Tomus p. 1242 (Epistolae XI. 73): Quia ecclesiam sancti Georgii positam in loco qui «Ad sedem» dicitur minorem quam oportet diligentiam habere cognovimus, utile esse prospeximus, quoniam monasterium tuum eidem ecclesiae noscitur esse conjunctum, ejus tibi curam committere, hortantes ut et sollicitudinem illic congruam studeas adhibere, et psalmodiae officium solemniter exhibere facias. Et quia ecclesiam ipsam reparatione certum est indigere, volumus ut quidquid illuc accedere potuerit, ipse accipere atque in ejus reparationem, ut praevideris, debeas erogare. Hanc vero sollicitudinis curam, quam tibi hujus pagina praecepti mandavimus, tam te quam etiam successores tuos, qui monasterii regimen, Deo auctore, susceperint, exhibere, et quae constituimus per omnia volumus observare."
  4. Batiffol, p. 420.
  5. The "Liber Pontificalis", in: Duchesne, Louis (1886). Le Liber pontificalis (in Latin). Vol. Tome premier. Paris: E. Thorin. pp. 360, 362. Batiffol, p. 419, points out that the oldest manuscript which gives this notice belongs to the 10th century: "malheureusement ce passage est une interpolation, dont le plus ancien témoin est un manuscrit du Xe siècle."
  6. Ornella Mariani, "Cola di Rienzo", Associazione Culturale Italia Medievale; retrieved 5 February 2022.
  7. Hüls, Rudolf (1977). Kardinal, Klerus und Kirchen Roms: 1049–1130, Tübingen: Max Niemeyer 1977. (in German), pp. 227-228.
  8. Johannes Brixius (1912), Die Mitglieder des Kardinalkollegiums von 1130-1181 (in German),Berlin 1912, p. 142. Barbara Zenker, Die Mitglieder des Kardinalcollegiums von 1130 bis 1159 (in German) (Würzburg 1964), p. 159.
  9. Brixius, p. 64, no. 17.
  10. Brixius, p. 66, no. 27.
  11. Conradus, Eubel, ed. (1913). Hierarchia catholica (in Latin). Vol. Tomus 1 (second ed.). Münster: Libreria Regensbergiana. p. 3, note 1, no. 21.
  12. Eubel I, p. 50.
  13. Kamp, Norbert (1976). "Capuano, Pietro". Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani, Volume 19: Cappi–Cardona (in Italian). Rome: Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana. ISBN 978-8-81200032-6.
  14. Petrus was promoted Cardinal priest of S. Marco in 1289. Eubel I, pp. 44, 50.
  15. Bragose was transferred to being cardinal-priest of S. Lorenzo in Lucina (1362–1367). Eubel I, pp. 43, 50.
  16. Eubel I, p. 22, no. 9; p. 23, note 1.
  17. Tomacelli was appointed deacon of S. Giorgio by Urban VI of the Roman Obedience on 21 December 1381; in 1385 he was promoted cardinal priest of S. Anastasia. He became Pope Boniface IX on 2 November 1389. Eubel I, p. 24, no. 31; p. 25, with note 7.
  18. Peter was appointed by Pope Clement VII on 15 April 1384; he died on 2 July 1387. Eubel I, p. 28, no. 19.
  19. Tarlati was appointed deacon of S. Agata in 1378 by Urban VI of the Roman Obedience, but he joined the Obedience of Clement VII, who appointed him deacon of S. Giorgio on 5 May 1378; he died between 1397 and 1400. Eubel I, p. 23, no. 9.
  20. Michael was appointed by Pope Benedict XIII on 9 May 1404; he died on 24 August 1406. Eubel I, p. 30. no. 8.
  21. Urries was appointed by Pope Benedict XIII on 22 September 1408; he died on 8 October 1420. Eubel I, p. 30. no. 13.
  22. Conradus Eubel, Hierarchia catholica medii aevi I, editio altera (Monasterii 1913), p. 50.
  23. Conradus Eubel, Hierarchia catholica medii aevi II, editio altera (Monasterii 1914), p. 66.
  24. Eubel III, pp. 16, no. 31; 73.
  25. Eubel III, pp. 20, no. 11; 73.
  26. Eubel III, pp. 29, no. 59; 73.
  27. Eubel III, pp. 37, no. 1; 73.
  28. Eubel III, pp. 38, no. 7; 73.
  29. Eubel II, pp. 46, no. 13; 73.
  30. Eubel III, pp. 47, no. 33; 73.
  31. Giustiniani was transferred to S. Agata on 11 September 1587. Eubel III, pp. 51, no. 16; 73.
  32. Eubel III, pp. 54, no. 3; 73.
  33. Gauchat, pp. 4, no. 4; 52.
  34. Gauchat, pp. 10, no. 9; 52.
  35. Gauchat, pp. 12, no. 26; 52.
  36. Gauchat, pp. 19, no. 4; 52.
  37. Gauchat, pp. 26, no. 70; 52.
  38. Gauchat, pp. 26, no. 71; 52.
  39. Gauchat, pp. 27, no. 2; 52.
  40. Gauchat, pp. 34, no. 23; 52.
  41. Gauchat, p. 34, no. 24; Ritzler-Sefrin V, p. 53.
  42. Ritzler-Sefrin V, pp. 4 no. 3; 53.
  43. Ritzler-Sefrin V, pp. 14 no. 39; 53.
  44. Ritzler-Sefrin V, pp. 14 no. 40; 53.
  45. Imperiali was promoted cardinal-riest of San Lorenzo in Lucina, but held the deaconry in commendam from 1726–1732. Ritzler-Sefrin V, pp. 17 no. 10; 53.
  46. Ritzler-Sefrin VI, pp. 6 no. 12; 52.
  47. Ritzler-Sefrin VI, pp. 14 no. 16; 52.
  48. Ritzler-Sefrin VI, pp. 22 no. 23; 52.
  49. Ritzler-Sefrin VI, pp. 27 no. 9; 52.
  50. Ritzler-Sefrin VI, pp. 33 no. 26; 52.
  51. Ritzler-Sefrin VI, pp. 33 no. 29; 52.
  52. Ritzler-Sefrin VI, pp. 38 no. 71; 52.
  53. Ritzler-Sefrin VIII, p. 61.
  54. Ritzler-Sefrin VIII, p. 54. Bräuer, p. 61.
  55. Bräuer, p. 78.
  56. Bräuer, p. 92.
  57. "San Giorgio in Velabro". Catholic-Hierarchy.org. David M. Cheney. Retrieved 21 January 2015. Bräuer, p. 117.
  58. Bräuer, p. 230. Lentz, pp. 78-79.
  59. Sincero was promoted cardinal-priest on 17 December 1928, retaining S. Giorgio as a titular church. Bräuer, p. 258. Lentz, p. 177.
  60. Bräuer, p. 293. Lentz, p. 124.
  61. Bräuer, p. 352. Lentz, p. 97.
  62. Bräuer, p. 411. Lentz, p. 89.
  63. Bräuer, p. 438. Lentz, pp. 144-145.
  64. Stickler was promoted cardinal-priest on 29 January 1996, retaining S. Giorgio as a titular church. Lentz, p. 181.
  65. On 5 May 2021 Ravasi was promoted Cardinal-Priest of S. Giorgio.

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