Santi Bonifacio e Alessio

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Basilica of Santi Bonifacio e Alessio on the Aventine

The Basilica of Santi Bonifacio e Alessio ( Latin: Sancti Bonifatii et Alexii ), usually Sant'Alessio for short , is a titular church in Rome . She is the hll. Consecrated to Boniface of Tarsus and Alexius of Edessa , it stands on the Aventine , the southernmost of the seven hills of Rome, which today belongs to the Ripa district. This XII. District shows a white ship's steering wheel in the coat of arms as a reminiscence of the old Tiber harbor.

history

Martyrdom of Boniface of Tarsus, Weißenauer Passionale, Coligny / Switzerland, Codex Bodmer 127, fol. 71r
Alexius the Hermit with his attribute of the stairs, Weltchronik von Hartmann Schedel, 1493

There are only legendary reports about the time and circumstances of the first church foundation. According to the Martyrologium Romanum , an oratory was founded on the Aventine at the beginning of the 4th century in order to be able to hold the relics of the Roman patrician son Boniface of Tarsus, which had previously been buried outside the city on the Via Latina . This Boniface is said to have died as a martyr during the persecution of Christians in Tarsus at the beginning of the 4th century . In the 7th century, the first church is mentioned in the so-called catalog of Salzburg as Basilica sci. Bonifati mar. ubi ipse dormit . Under Pope Leo III. (795–816) the church was richly endowed and called diakonia in the Liber Pontificalis .

The veneration of the hermit Alexius von Edessa in Rome has been documented since the end of the 10th century . Pope Benedict VII (974–983) handed the church and monastery over to the Greek metropolitan Sergius of Damascus, who fled to Rome, under whom the monastic community of Greek Basilians and Benedictines developed into one of the most important in the city. At this time St. Alexius raised to second patron saint; the monastery church became the preferred burial place for Roman noble families.

According to the Alexius legend of the 5th century, the parental home of the second church patron should have stood on the site of today's church; he left his parents 'house shortly before his marriage and lived as a hermit in Edessa , later returned to Rome and lived undetected under a staircase in his parents' house as a beggar until his death. The legendary life of Alexius was a frequent subject for poetry, drama, and music in the Middle Ages and early modern times; there were also brotherhoods and associations for the care of the sick and the mentally weak.

In 1217 Pope Honorius III. (1216–1227) inaugurated the new church SS. Bonifacio ed Alessio. In the following years the religious orders of the Premonstratensians and the Hieronymites alternated in the monastery. During the extensive restoration at the end of the 16th century, a new sacristy and the cloister with the fountain (1570) were built in addition to the high altar . Between 1744 and 1750, the baroque redesign followed while retaining the outer walls and the three-aisled structure with transept and apse , but including the columns in the new row of pillars . In 1846, the Somaskan Order (mother house in Somasca / Lombardy) took over the monastery and ran an institute for the blind there until 1940. The Istituto nazionale di studi romani has been located in the monastery since 1941 ; there scientific research is carried out on the knowledge of the city of Rome from antiquity to today (historical, archaeological, art-historical and linguistic).

Floor plan of the baroque renovation, around 1750
18th century facade

Building description

The Romanesque church building from 1217, like today's church, was on the highest elevation of the Aventine, between Santa Sabina and the Villa del Priorato di Malta with the church of Santa Maria del Priorato , the seat of the Sovereign Order of Malta . It was a three-aisled pillar basilica with a transept and an adjoining semicircular apse, oriented from southwest to northeast. There had probably also been an atrium in front of the vestibule . Inside, eight columns made of Numidian marble each supported the nave walls. The columns and various types of capitals were spoils from ancient buildings in the area. An open roof truss covered the central nave and the side aisles. Only the crypt and the campanile have been preserved from this church building.

During the renovation in the 18th century , the basilica was given a two-storey facade with five arched openings and colored granite columns, the middle arch above the portal highlighted by a triangular gable , the whole thing with a palatial effect. The upper floor with rectangular windows over the arched openings and the final architrave date from the 19th century. Only behind this is the end wall of the nave with triangular gable and cross visible.

Church interior

Central nave and choir with altar

The portal from the Romanesque building is framed by late antique marble parts with foliage and decorated with colorful stone mosaic of the Cosmats . The chandelier angels standing on the side date from the 14th century.

The three-aisled building from the 13th century has been preserved, but has been redesigned into a pillar basilica , in which each pillar has two pilasters at the side , which carry the divider arches to the side aisles. Barrel vaults with stitch caps arch over the central nave and transepts to the window openings. The floor still contains remains of the Cosmaten mosaic from the 13th century. In the apse, parts of the choir furnishings from the 13th century have been preserved, including two (of originally 19) Cosmatic columns that were built into the choir stalls with the bishop's throne. Above the throne is an inscription plaque with a catalog of the relics kept here in 1217. The canteen of the high altar from 1582 is vaulted by an octagonal cupola with triangular gables, supported by four pillars with pilasters. In the dome there are numerous stucco work , including the four evangelists and depictions of “ Humanitas ”, “Divinitas”, “ Sacerdotium ” and “Resurrectio” in between. The relics of the two church patrons Bonifatius von Tarsus and Alexius von Edessa are kept under the altar canteen.

Marienkapelle in the right transept
Icon of Maria Advocata in the Marienkapelle (12th / 13th century)

On the altar of the Lady Chapel in the right transept there is a medieval copy of Rome's oldest icon of Mary , the Maria Advocata , in the Dominican monastery of Monastero di Santa Maria del Rosario in Rome. As with this highly venerated icon from the 6th century, the icon of SS. Bonifacio e Alessio (75 × 50 cm) shows the Mother of God (without child) as intercessor. In a side-turned half-figure, she has turned her eyes on the viewer and raised her hands pleadingly. The head is wrapped in the shawl ( Maphorion ). The golden nimbus is distinguished from the rest of the gold ground by a slight hallmark . Mary intercedes by raising her right hand up to her shoulder and turning to Jesus Christ in order to forward the requests entrusted to her to him. This icon from the 12th or 13th century is said to be a gift from King Charles IV (Spain) , who had the Lady Chapel restored in 1814. In the side aisles and in the transept are numerous tombs from different times.

In front of the steps to the high altar, two stairs lead to the crypt under the transept, which has not changed structurally since the beginning of the 13th century. The altar was consecrated in 1218 to St. Thomas Becket (1118–1170), whose relics rest here. The altar table is supported by a column and four pillars. In the middle there is a bishop's throne, consisting of two arches of a ciborium with relief ornamentation from the 9th century. The room has a groin vault supported by eight late antique marble columns with combatant capitals . The frescoes (around 1218) show the evangelist symbols and the Lamb of God , two abbots with a square nimbus, a Christ medallion with two adoring angels and a cross on a throne on which a dove (with a nimbus) sits on a book. In the small apse behind the altar you can see the remains of a fresco depicting Mary with the child between the two church patrons.

Rediscovered fresco

A large-format mural of approx. 1150 that was discovered in 2005 and has since been uncovered and published has not only attracted attention in specialist literature. On the so far visible section of approx. 400 × 90 cm, St. Alexius of Edessa is shown as a pilgrim next to the blessing Christ. It is located on a wall that is difficult to access between the campanile of the 12th and 13th centuries. Century and the porch of the basilica built around 1745. According to the art historian Claudia Viggiani, who discovered the mural after a lengthy search for traces, it was created around 1150 and is in a remarkably good state of preservation. Alexius von Edessa was an early Christian saint who lived as a hermit in Edessa for a long time and then returned to Rome, where he lived undetected under a staircase in his parents' home in Rome for the last few years before his death in 430. At the end of the 10th century the veneration of this saint had increased greatly; as a result he was raised to the second church patron next to Boniface. On the fresco, Alexius is depicted in a purple cloak over the short dresses of a pilgrim with a pilgrim's staff and nimbus and with a raised left hand pointing to Christ. Next to him stands Christ, recognizable by the nimbus of the cross , which is his only , also full-length and frontally, but only half visible because of the uncovering that has not yet been completed, with his right hand raised in blessing. The fresco on a dark background is surrounded by a polychrome frame painted with "extraordinary sophistication and incredibly intact colors".

See also

List of cardinal priests from Santi Bonifacio e Alessio

literature

  • Christian Huelsen: Le chiese di Roma nel Medio Evo , Firenze 1927, p. 171f.
  • Walther Buchowiecki: Handbook of the Churches of Rome . Vienna 1967, Volume 1, pp. 475-485
  • Anton Henze u. a .: Art Guide Rome , Stuttgart 1994, p. 150
  • Claudia Viggiani: Basilica dei Santi Bonifacio e Alessio all'Aventino. Nuove scoperte e ipotesi . Rivista Arte Medievale anno V (2006), pp. 131-140
  • Serena Romano: Una aggiunta al corpus della pittura medioevale a Roma: i Santi Bonifacio e Alessio all'Aventino . In: Forme e storia. Scritti di arte medioevale by Francesco Gandolfo . Artemide Roma 2011
  • Claudio Rendina: The Churches of Rome. History and secrets , col. "Italian Traditions", Newton & Compton, Rome 2017, pp. 55–56
  • Andreas Rossmann: A found fresco . In: Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung of August 7, 2019, p. 12 with ill. (Photo EPA)
  • Lexicon of Christian Iconography (LCI): Alexius von Edessa, Freiburg 2004, Volume 5, Rz.90ff. and Boniface of Tarsus, Volume 5, margin no. 436f.
  • Lexicon for Theology and Church (LThK): Alexios v. Edessa, Freiburg 1973, volume 1, margin no. 381f. and Bonifatios von Tarsos, Volume 2, margin no. 575

Web links

Commons : Santi Bonifacio e Alessio  - Album with pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. Lexicon for Theology and Church (LThK), Herder, Freiburg 2006, Volume 2, Sp. 575
  2. Catal. Salisburg , p. 1, n.21
  3. LP.XCVIII, Leo III . 795-816, c. 29.75
  4. Christian Huelsen, Le chiese di Roma nel Medio Evo , Firenze 1927, pp. II – III and 171f.
  5. Lexicon for Theology and Church (LThK), Herder, Freiburg 2006, Volume 1, Sp. 381
  6. Lexicon of Christian Iconography (LCI): Alexius von Edessa , Freiburg 2004, Volume 5, Rz.90ff.
  7. Walther Buchowiecki: Handbook of the Churches of Rome . Vienna 1967, Volume 1, p. 477
  8. Walther Buchowiecki: Handbook of the Churches of Rome . Vienna 1967, Volume 1, p. 477
  9. Walther Buchowiecki: Handbook of the Churches of Rome . Vienna 1967, Volume 1, p. 478
  10. Hans Georg Wehrens: Rome - The Christian Sacred Buildings from the 4th to the 9th Century - Ein Vademecum , Freiburg 2016, p. 185
  11. Walther Buchowiecki: Handbook of the Churches of Rome . Vienna 1967, Volume 1, p. 482
  12. ^ Claudia Viggiani: Basilica dei Santi Bonifacio e Alessio all'Aventino. Nuove scoperte e ipotesi . In: Rivista Arte Medievale anno V (2006), pp. 131-140
  13. ^ Silvia Lambertucci: Sant'Alessio e il Cristo, l'affresco ritrovato . In: https://www.ansa.it/sito/notizie/cultura/2019/06/29/ansa-santalessio-e-il-cristo-laffresco-ritrovato_34bad2ab-5df7-48b8-9f6c-a3937f639f52.html

Coordinates: 41 ° 53 ′ 1.1 ″  N , 12 ° 28 ′ 43.8 ″  E