Basilica di San Clemente

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This article describes the basilica in Rome. For the city in California, see San Clemente, California.

Interior of the second basilica

The basilica of San Clemente is a complex of buildings in Rome centred around a 12th century Roman Catholic church dedicated to Pope Clement I. The site is notable as being an archaeological record of Roman architectural, political and religious history from the early Christian era to the Middle Ages.

1 History
2 External links
3 References

[edit] History

This ancient church was transformed over the centuries from a private home that was the site of clandestine Christian worship in the 1st century to a grand public basilica by the 6th century, reflecting the emerging Roman Catholic Church's growing legitimacy and power.

[edit] Roman buildings

The house was originally owned by Roman consul and martyr Titus Flavius Clemens who was one of the first among the Roman nobility to convert to Christianity. He allowed his house to be used as a secret gathering place for fellow Christians, the religion being outlawed at the time.

There is evidence of pagan worship on the site. In the 2nd century members of a Mithraic cult built a small temple dedicated to their bull-god Mithras in an insula, or apartment complex, on the site. This temple, used for initiation rituals, lasted until about the 3rd century, by which time Christianity had largely supplanted pagan worship in Rome.

[edit] The first basilica

By the 4th century, after Christianity became the state religion of Rome, the small church underwent expansion, acquiring the adjoining insula and other nearby buildings. Architects began work on the complex of rooms and courtyards, building a central nave over the early church site, and an apse over the former Mithraic temple. The new church was dedicated to Pope Clement I, a 1st century Christian convert and a contemporary of Titus Flavius Clemens.

Over the next several centuries, San Clemente became a beacon for church artists and sculptors, benefitting from Imperial largesse. Today, it is considered one of the most richly adorned churches in Rome.And the buildings are not everything that is great of their art or their architicture.

[edit] The second basilica

The current basilica was built in 1108 after the original church was burned to the ground during the Norman sack of the city in 1084.

Irish Dominicans have been the caretakers of San Clemente since 1667, when Britain outlawed the Irish Catholic Church and expelled the entire clergy. They were given refuge at San Clemente, where they have remained, running a residence for priests studying and teaching in Rome. The Dominicans themselves conducted the excavations in the 1950s in collaboration with Italian archaeology students.

On one wall in the courtyard there is a plaque signed by Pope Clement XI that praises San Clemente, declaring, "This ancient church has withstood the ravages of the centuries."

In one lateral chapel there is a shrine with the tomb of Saint Cyril of the Saints Cyril and Methodius who created the Glagolithic alphabet and christianized the Slavs. The chapel portrays a "Madonna" by the Sassoferrato, and it is said that Pope John Paul II used to pray there sometimes for Poland and the Slavic countries.

Current Cardinal Priest of the Titulus S. Clementi is Adrianus Johannes Simonis, the archbishop of Utrecht in the Netherlands. Pope Paschal II (1076-1099) was one of the previous holders of the Titulus.