(013) Santi Giovanni e Paolo

Facade of the .

Santi Giovanni e Paolo is an ancient basilica church in Rome, located on the west slope of the Celian Hill. It is also called Santi Giovanni e Paolo al Celio or referred to as SS Giovanni e Paolo. The church is dedicated to two officers in the army under the Apostate, who suffered martyrdom under Apronianus, prefect of Rome A. D. 362.

Beneath the church, within its walls, and in the immediate vicinity, are the remains of 2nd and 3rd century AD buildings. One of these streets, the Clivus Scauri, has survived and runs along the southern flank of the church, passing San Gregorio in Magno down to the ancient Via Triumphalis.

History: John and Paul were officers at the Imperial Court in the service of Constantia (+360), daughter of Constantine (306-337). Tradition says that the brothers had held high positions in Constantinople but left there and returned to their Roman home on the Coelian Hill when asked to serve Julian the Apostate (emperor 331-363) in the same capacity. Julian ordered them to be put to the usual trial of the faith, namely, to renounce their God in favor of the pagan deities. However, because of their great popularity and nobility, they were not martyred publicly; instead, they were beheaded secret in their palace on June 26, 362. Julian himself, ironically, was brutally killed exactly one year later, on the very same day.

The original sanctuary, founded in 398 by the senator Byzantius and his son, St. (a friend of St. ), was built directly over the ’ original house, which had been filled in with rubble and earth. The first church was known as Titulus Bizantiis after Senator Byzantius. His son Pammachius built a basilica on the site, which was known as Titulus Pammachii and was one of the first parish churches in Rome. The synod listing from 499 uses this name. An inscription from the 5th century names Pammachius as the founder. He was a personal friend of St Jerome, and after several years of public service, as a senator like his father had been, he gave his money to the poor and retired to a life of seclusion and prayer; undoubtedly a result of St Jerome's influence. The synod listing of 595 also mentions the church, but by this time it is known as SS. Johanis e Pauli. (013)

The church was damaged during the sack by Alaric I (410) and because of an earthquake (442) restored by Pope Leo I (440-461) and Pope Hadrian (772-795). This ancient basilica was practically demolished by the Norman raider, Robert Guiscard, in 1084. Paschal II (1099-1118) started restoring it, and this project was completed c. 1150 by Giovanni Cardinal Conti de Sutri. Adrian IV (1154-1159), the only English Pope, made considerable improvements, adding the eight ancient granite columns to the portico, the Romanesque apse and campanile, and the cosmatesque pavement.

The church was restored and altered 1715-1718 under Fabrizio Cardinal Paolucci, in the late Baroque style. In the late 1850s, the sacristy was added, as well as a large chapel dedicated to St. Paul of the Cross, founder of the Passionist order which serves the basilica.

The remains of the saints' house was revealed in the archeological excavations in the 19th century (see below).

The last major restoration took place in the 20th century, when Francis Cardinal Spellman, Archbishop of New York, titular of the church from 1946 to 1967, got financial support from Joseph Kennedy to restore the façade and to carry out new excavations. During this time the façade was returned to its medieval appearance. The interior was also restored; among the additions were chandeliers that had previously hung in the Waldorf-Astoria hotel in New York.

Pope Nicholas V consigned the church to the care of the Congregation of Jesuati, founded by John Colombini of Sienna. On the suppression of the Order, Card. Norfolk, an Englishman, obtained it from Clement X. for the Irish Dominicans, who resided there until the pontificate of Innocent XII. (1691-1700); and finally it has been served by the Passionist fathers, who were installed here in the late 18th century.

Santi Giovanni e Paolo was one of the original twenty-five station churches in Rome. In 1929, Eugenio Pacelli became the titular of this church. He was elected pope in 1939, taking the name Pius XII. The Cardinal Priest of the Titulus Ss. Ioannis et Pauli is Edward Egan. He was appointed on February 21, 2001. Among previous Cardinal Priests of this Title are 2 who became Pope: Pope Honorius III (Cencio Savelli, elevated to cardinal in 1198) and Pope Pius XII (Eugenio Pacelli, elevated to cardinal in 1929). Since Francis Cardinal Spellman was elevated to Cardinal Priest of Ss. Ioannis et Pauli in 1946, the titulus has been held by the Archbishop of New York.

Exterior: The 12th century façade was restored by Cardinal Spellman. The portico, with eight ancient columns, six of red granite and two of white marble, is from 1158, and was built on orders from Pope Hadrian IV. On the architrave, an inscription mentions Cardinal Conti de Sutri who had completed the restoration a few years earlier. The gallery above the architrave was constructed c. 1216, and has some later modifications.

The Romanesque campanile, c.1150, rests on travertine from the Temple of Claudius. The plates among the bricks on the walls of the bell tower are copies of Moorish ceramic tiles with Arabic lettering. The originals, which were brought from Malaga in Spain, have been moved to the excavation museum in the church. The Campanile was built by Pope Hadrian IV

In the north and south clerestory walls 18 round-headed windows with 26 oculi, a unique feature in an Early Christian church in Rome, above can be seen now blocked up. A 5th century Christian (013) symbol is visible at the eastern corner of the northern clerestory near the façade. It shows the Chi- Rho, executed in brick, intertwined with the letters A and Ω.

The some of the side buttressesare of Roman date restored with medieval masonry, and others are entirely from the 13th and 14th century.

The apse is unique in Rome. It is influenced by the Lombard Romanesque style. A perfect cemi- circle, the exterior wall is original up to the dwarf gallery, and bears the traces of four bricked up windows. The entire south wall of the church is formed of the facades, three stories high, of two Roman insulae (a) whose windows and doors were bricked up at various stages.

Congregation of the Passion of Jesus Christ (the Passionists) monastery was built in 1867, adjoining the basilica, for which they have cared since 1773. At third-floor level of the monastery, a pair of windows mark the room of St Paul of the Cross, the 18th century founder of the Passionist Congregation. Blessed Dominic Barberi, apostle to England, also lived here for some time.

(013) Plan:

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Church Excavated Area

1 Façade, 5th C. a Insulae

2 Marble Slab above the 4th C confession b Domus with baths

3 Glass Disk c Cryptoporticus over a narrow roman lane 4 Porphyry Urn I Private Oratory with frescoes 5 Entrance to the excavated area II Confessio and its landing, with frescoes

A Museum III Entrance, 5th to 12th C. with frescoes

B Roman Street – the Clicus Scauri IV Room of Domus (b) with a nymphaeum with 2nd C. fresco of Peleus C Campanile and Theis; mosaic of Nereids and Triton; pavement of opus tessellatum; well D Doorway – Cosmatesque, 13th C. shaft

E Fresco, 13th C. V Triclinum with pagan frescoes of birds and youths bearing garlands F Sacristy VI Small Room with imitations marble decoration

VII Tablinum

VIII Wine Cellar – Roman, reconstructed

IX Foundation Walls of the 5th C. nave

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Interior: The inside, which is 133 feet long by 85 feet 6 inches broad, is divided into a nave and two aisles by arcades, the pillars of which are adorned with sixteen columns of black granite of the composite order. The door of entrance is adorned internally with two marble columns; and the beautiful organ over the door is decorated with two columns of marmo bianco e nero. The pavement of the nave consists, in part, of 13th century cosmatesque opus Alexandrinum; and about its center, to the right, is a slab enclosed within an iron balustrade, marking the spot where SS. John and Paul are said to have been decapitated. The interior was transformed to the late Baroque style by the 1718 renovation.

The coffered ceiling dates from 1598.

Left aisle

At the extremity of this aisle is the tomb of the Ven. Father Paul della Croce, Founder of the Congregation of the Passionists. The Pieta and the Agony in Gethsemane, by Francesco Grandi.

The first chapel at the left rear is Chapel of the Crucifixion.

The altarpiece of the next chapel is Joseph with the Saviour, by Aureliano Melani.

Over the next altar is the Conversion of Saint Paul, also by Melani.

Apse and Tribunal

The isolated great altar and the tribune were designed by F. Ferrari. An ancient porphyry urn beneath the altar contains the relics of St John and St Paul. They were moved to the upper church in 1558, and placed beneath the altar in 1726.

The apse is frescoed with Christ in Glory (1588) by Cristoforo Roncalli (one of the painters called il Pomarancio) [1588]; while below are three paintings: Martyrdom of Saint John, Martyrdom of Saint Paul, and the Conversion of Terenziano (1726) by Domenico Piastrini, Giacomo Triga, and Pietro Andrea Barbieri respectively. The latter painting commemorated the imperial official who supervised the execution of Sts John and Paul. His son was later healed through their intercession, and he converted.

Behind the chapel left of the high altar is a fresco of Christ with Apostles, in the Byzantine style, which has been dated to 1255. The door is locked, but if you wish to see it the sacristan will let you in. It is interesting to all because of its beauty, and especially interesting to art scholars since it is a rare example of a fresco surviving from that period. If you ask the sacristan to see this, you might also want to ask him to show you the sacristy, where there is a painting of The Madonna and Child with Sts John and Paul by Antoniazzo Romano, painted in 1455.

Right aisle

On the altar of the chapel, at this extremity of the left aisle, is the Assumption, by Pomarancie.

The Saint Saturninus, in the chapel at the extremity of the aisle, is by Marco Benefial. The 4th century martyr Saturnius is interred. (013)

Off the right aisle is a domed chapel, built to house the relics of St Paul of the Cross. Construction was started in 1862. It is decorated with paintings of incidents in the life of the saint.

The SS. Scilitani martyrs, over the third altar, are by A. Melani. This chapel contains the relics of eleven martyrs from Scillium, North Africa. They were martyred in Carthage in 180 after refusing to hand over one of St Paul's letter.

The Saint Pammachius with an angel, is over the next altar.

Over the first altar, in the right aisle, the Profession of Saint Frances Fremiot de Chantal, made in the hands of Saint Francis of Sales, in presence of Saint Francis of Paula, is by Barbault, a French painter.

To the right, in the vestibule, before the sacristy we find the busts of Card. Paolucci, a great benefactor of the church, of Clement XIV, and of Innocent XII, sculptured by Pietro Bracci.

There is a glass disc in the church pavement directly over the martyr’s tomb, and the tomb of St. Paul of the Cross (1694-1775), founder of the Congregation of the Passion of Jesus Christ (the Passionists) is also found in this church.

The organ is from 1892.

Excavations: The remains of the original church can be seen in the present church, which was built in the medieval period. The Roman structures beneath the church consist of (a) insulae: a block of apartments and shops, the façade of which in included in the southern wall of the church; (b) a house with baths and nymphaeum; and (c) a cryptoporticus above an alleyway. Beneath the church their interiors survive up to their second floor, above which the pavement of the 5th century church is placed.

The houses beneath the church, known as the "Case Romane", have been excavated, and the entrance to the excavations can be found just after the chapel of St Paul of the Cross. Work was begun by Fr. Germano Stanislaus in 1887, and completed in 1958. In 2001, administration was taken over by the Comune di Roma. They contain a number of paintings, both Christian and pagan, including frescoes of the 2nd and 3rd century. There is also an early medieval oratory under the church. An "Antiquarium" holds many artifacts found during the excavations. The museum (A) and remains beneath the church are accessible through the entrance (5) at the end of the right-hand aisle.

Artists and Architects:

Andrea Garagni (18th cent), Italian architect Antoniazzo Romano (1430-1510), Italian Early Renaissance painter Antonio Canevari (1681-1764), Italian architect of the Rococo and Neoclassical periods Aureliano Milani (1675-1749), Italian painter of the late-Baroque period Cristoforo Roncalli aka Il Pomarancio (1552-1626), Italian Mannerist painter Cristoforo Prosperi, Italian sculptor Filippo Martinucci (19th cent), Italian architect Francesco Coghetti (1804-1875), Italian painter Francesco Ferrari (1634-1708), Italian painter and architect of the Baroque period Francesco Grandi (1831-1891), Italian painter (013) Giacomo Triga (1674-1746), Italian painter of the Late Baroque period Giovanni Battista Conti, Italian painter Giovanni Domenico Piastrini (c.1678-1740), Italian painter Giovanni Torelli, Italian painter Giuseppe de Fabris (1790-1860), Italian sculptor Jacopo di Lorenzo (early 13th cent), Cosmati family Jean Barbault (c.1705-c.1766), a French painter and engraver Marco Benefial (1684-1764), Italian proto-Neoclassical painter Pietro Andrea Barbieri (1684-1730), Italian painter in the Baroque period Pietro Bracci (1700-1773), Italian sculptor of the Late Baroque period Raffaele Ingami (1836-1908), Italian architect

Burials: Nicola Cardinal PERELLI, (1696-1772) Lorenzo Cardinal LITTA, (1756-1820) Vincenzo Cardinal MACCHI, (1770-1860) Roberto Giovanni F. Cardinal ROBERTI, (1788-1867)

Location: Addr: Piazza dei Santi Giovanni e Paolo 13, 00184 Roma. Coord: 41° 53' 11"N, 12° 29' 31.7"E

Info: Telephone: 06-77.27.11 Open times: 08:30am-12:00pm 03:30pm-06:00pm

Links: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Santi_Giovanni_e_Paolo_%28Rome%29 http://romanchurches.wikia.com/wiki/Santi_Giovanni_e_Paolo http://sights.seindal.dk/sight/988_Santi_Giovanni_e_Paolo.html http://www.pnac.org/station-churches/week-of-ash-wed/friday-after-ash-wednesday-santi- giovanni-e-paolo/ http://www.info.roma.it/monumenti_dettaglio.asp?ID_schede=411 http://www.060608.it/en/cultura-e-svago/luoghi-di-culto-di-interesse-storico-artistico/chiese- cattoliche/ss-giovanni-e-paolo-al-celio.html http://www.livius.org/ro-rz/rome/rome_clivus_scauri.html

Ref: Donovan, Jeremiah; ROME ANCIENT AND MODERN AND ITS ENVIRONS; 1842