Sant'Agnese fuori le mura

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Facade of Sant'Agnese

Sant'Agnese fuori le mura ( German : Saint Agnes in front of the walls , Latin : Sanctae Agnetis extra moenia ) is a church in northeast Rome in honor of Saint Agnes . It is both a basilica minor and a parish church. The church is located on Via Nomentana in the II Parioli municipality , two kilometers outside the Aurelian Wall . Sant'Agnese is part of a complex that includes a catacomb , the ruins of an early Christian basilica and Santa Costanza , the former mausoleum of Constantina , daughter of Constantine the Great . It is also the title church of a cardinal , see also Sant'Agnese fuori le mura (cardinal title) .

In addition to Sant'Agnese fuori le mura, the church of Sant'Agnese in Agone, built by Francesco Borromini on Piazza Navona , the presumed place of her martyrdom , is dedicated to St. Agnes.

history

The present church, built in the 7th century under Pope Honorius , rises above one of the largest catacombs in Rome. The total length of the underground corridors is ten kilometers, but only a small part of them are accessible. Agnes was buried here, which resulted in the desire of many Romans to find her final resting place in the immediate vicinity of this holy tomb.

The popularity of St. Agnes was also evident from the fact that Constantia , daughter of the Emperor Constantine, had a large basilica built over this catacomb from 337 to 351 . The length of the structure was about 98 meters, the width about 40 meters. Only a few remains of the outer walls of this building have survived today. She had her own burial chapel, today's Santa Costanza Church, added to this basilica .

Today's construction

inner space

As this church became more and more dilapidated, Pope Honorius had a small, three-aisled church built right next to it between 625 and 630 , the altar of which was directly above the grave of Agnes. The individual ships are divided by 16 remarkable ancient columns that were removed from buildings from Roman times that are no longer needed ( Spolia ).

The church was built on the front wall and the sides with separate galleries for women ( matronaeum ), comparable to those in San Lorenzo fuori le mura . The side chapels , the altar canopy (17th century) and the design of the triumphal arch (19th century) are more recent. The wooden ceiling with numerous ornaments dates back to 1606. Among the pieces of equipment , the bishop's throne from the 7th century and the marble chandelier from the 13th century are worth mentioning.

Some mosaics from the construction period have been preserved to this day. In the apse , St. Agnes is depicted in the clothes of a Byzantine princess. At her feet you can see the torture tools fire and sword, on her arm she carries a scroll. It is flanked by Honorius, who, as the founder, carries a model of the church in his hands, and by St. Symmachus .

In this church every year on the feast of St. Agnes (January 21st) two lambs are blessed by the Pope after a solemn high mass. The pallium that the newly appointed archbishops wear as a sign of their solidarity with the Pope is made from their wool .

The church has been one of the title churches of Rome since October 5, 1654 , the current title holder is Camillo Cardinal Ruini .

  • Agnes catacomb

  • Ruins of the early Christian basilica

  • Apse mosaic of St. Agnes

  • Altar ciborium

  • Sant'Agnese fuori le mura

literature

Web links

Commons : Sant'Agnese fuori le mura  - album with pictures, videos and audio files

Footnotes

  1. ↑ Clemens Bombeck: They too shaped Rome. At the graves of the saints and blessed in the Eternal City . Schnell & Steiner, Regensburg 2004, ISBN 3-7954-1691-4 , p. 20.

Coordinates: 41 ° 55 ′ 22.5 ″  N , 12 ° 31 ′ 8 ″  E