San Silvestro (Trieste)
San Silvestro is a basilica in the northern Italian city of Trieste . The Romanesque church building from the 11th century is the oldest preserved sacred building in the city. The building has been owned by the Helvetic Community ( Confessio Helvetica Posterior ) since 1785 . Since an agreement between the Helvetic and Waldensian communities in 1927, the basilica has been used by both Reformed denominations .
Surname
The church is dedicated to Pope New Year's Eve . During the disputes between the emperor and the pope in the 11th century, the patronage of Holy New Year's Eve was an invitation to a free church independent of the emperor. According to legend, New Year's Eve received the so-called Patrimony of Peter as a gift from the Roman Emperor Constantine the Great , which was to form the basis for the later Papal States.
location
The basilica is located in Via del Collegio at the foot of the San Giusto hill, next to the baroque parish church of Santa Maria Maggiore .
history
According to legend, the place where today's church stands was the home of two Trieste martyrs , Saint Eufemia and Saint Thekla. According to tradition, the two Christian women were martyred in their house. According to recent findings, however, the two women were Euphemia of Chalcedon and Thekla of Iconium , two saints who did not come from Trieste, but were venerated in neighboring Aquileia , among other places , and who over time were made local martyrs.
It is believed that parts of the current building can be dated back to the 9th century. The entire building, however, dates from the 11th century and is traced back to the Trieste bishop Bernhard II . The first officially documented consecration took place in 1332. The Romanesque building was completely changed over the centuries through baroque alterations.
With the edict of Emperor Josef II , San Silvestro was closed to Catholic worship together with twelve other churches in Trieste in 1784 and put up for auction. In 1785 the church was auctioned by the Helvetic Community ( Confessio Helvetica Posterior ), which was founded in 1782 by Swiss immigrants, mainly from the canton of Graubünden , based on the tolerance patent of Emperor Josef II .
In 1927 the Helvetic Faith Community merged with the city's Waldensian community . Since this agreement, the church building has been owned by the two reformed faith communities and is used by both as a place of worship.
It was not until 1927 that the original, simple exterior of the church was restored.
literature
- Alessandra Fazzini Giorgi: La Basilica di San Silvestro in Trieste: vicende storiche, architettoniche e artistiche nel corso dei secoli Edizioni Lint, Trieste 1990.
- Klaus Zimmermann, Andrea C. Theil, Christoph Ulmer: Friuli and Trieste. Under St. Mark's Lion and Double Eagle. A cultural landscape of Northern Italy , 3rd, updated edition, DuMont Reise Verlag, Ostfildern 2006.
Individual evidence
- ^ Klaus Zimmermann, Andrea C. Theil, Christoph Ulmer (2006): Friuli and Triest. Under the lion of St. Mark and the double-headed eagle. A cultural landscape of Northern Italy , 3rd, updated edition (DuMont Reise Verlag), Ostfildern, p. 320.
Web links
Coordinates: 45 ° 38 '53.7 " N , 13 ° 46' 8.3" E