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All images © by Roberto Piperno, owner of the domain. Write to romapip@quipo.it. Text edited by Rosamie Moore.
Page revised in June 2009.

To the Italian visitors of my web site

S. Croce in Gerusalemme (Book 3) (Map A4) (Day 1) (View B9) (Rione Monti)

In this page:
The plate by Giuseppe Vasi
Today's view
S. Croce in Gerusalemme
Temple of Venus
S. Maria del Buon Aiuto and Oratorio di S. Margherita

The Plate (No. 47)

S. Croce in Gerusalemme

S. Croce in Gerusalemme is one of the seven basilicas which were visited by the pilgrims, especially during the Jubilee years. It is said to have been built by St. Helena to house the fragments of the Holy Cross she found in Jerusalem and brought to Rome. At the time of the plate the façade had just been rebuilt (1743) by Domenico Gregorini and Pietro Passalacqua. The view is taken from the green dot in the small 1748 map below. In the description below the plate Vasi made reference to: 1) Acquedotto dell'Acqua Claudia; 2) Tempio di Venere e Cupido; 3) Monastery; 4) Street leading to S. Lorenzo. 1) is covered in another page. The small map shows also 5) S. Maria del Buon Aiuto; 6) Oratorio di S. Margherita.

Small ViewSmall View

Today

The view today
The view in May 2009

S. Croce is no longer in a remote area of Rome, nevertheless, apart from the loss of the coat of arms of Pope Benedict XIV, little has changed since the time of Vasi's etching.
You may wish to see the basilica as it appeared in a 1588 Guide to Rome.

S. Croce in Gerusalemme

S. Croce in Gerusalemme
(left) Façade (of the vestibule); (right) bell tower

The original church, a large hall with an apse, was modified in the XIIth century with the addition of a transept and a bell tower and the division of the hall into three naves. Major restorations were made in 1743 with the construction of an elliptical vestibule which is regarded as the swansong of Roman baroque architecture.

Details
(left) St. Helena; (centre) angels worshipping the Cross; (right) Emperor Constantine

The façade is crowned by gigantic statues, which include Emperor Constantine, the son of St. Helena: he is the only Roman Emperor who is celebrated in a church (for the Greek Orthodox Church he is a saint).

Details
(left) Dome of the vestibule; (right) detail of the painting on the ceiling

Constantine was portrayed also in a painting by Corrado Giaquinto: the emperor is on his knees while his mother introduces him to the Virgin Mary who in turn pleads on his behalf with the Holy Trinity: Constantine did have a need for good advocates as he had ordered the killing of his wife and his son.

Details
Baroque baldaquin and apse with late XVth century frescoes depicting events associated with the Holy Cross.

Temple of Venus

Ruins
(left) Temple of Venus; (right) kitchen garden of the monastery

The ruins which Vasi attributes to a temple to Venus and Cupid (because a statue portraying the two was found there) are actually what is left of a villa built by Emperor Heliogabalus, which later on was incorporated in the residence of St. Helena (Palatium Sessorianum).
The monastery adjoining the basilica belongs to the Cistercian Order, a branch of the Benedictines with a lot of emphasis on self-sufficiency and manual work; the secluded monks have their kitchen garden inside nearby Amphiteatrum Castrense (the large oval structure behind the basilica).

S. Maria del Buon Aiuto

S. Maria del Buon Consiglio
(left) S. Maria del Buon Consiglio; (centre/right) Oratorio di S. Margherita

Pope Sixtus IV (1471-84) built a small chapel next to the Roman Amphiteatrum Castrense. The chapel catered to those who wished to pray for the souls of their kin in Purgatory. The chapel is known also as S. Maria del Soccorso or S. Maria de Spazolaria.
Oratorio di S. Margherita is a chapel which is pretty hard to find; it is located in a tower of the Roman walls: the tower, unlike the others, has some windows on the inner side of the walls and a sort of bell tower at its top. Because of its overall aspect it was called Prigione (prison) di S. Margherita. The chapel was pretty popular in the XVIIth and XVIIIth centuries, but later on its existence was forgotten.

Excerpts from Giuseppe Vasi 1761 Itinerary related to this page:


Basilica di S. Croce in Gerusalemme
Fu questa eretta dall'Imperatore Costantino ad istanza di s. Elena sua madre nel suo palazzo Sessoriano per collocarvi il legno della ss. Croce, che aveva portato da Gerusalemme, e però ne prese il titolo ed il nome. Dopo molti riattamenti fu ultimamente rinnovata dal Pontefice Benedetto XIV. col disegno del Cav. Passalacqua Messinese, ed è ornata con pitture, e stucchi dorati; quelle nella volta, nella crociata, e i due laterali a fresco fatti nella tribuna sono di Corrado Giaquinto; il quadro nella prima cappella a destra è di Gio. Bonatti, quello nella seconda di Carlo Maratti, e nella terza dipinse il Cav. Vanni. Il ritrovamento della ss. Croce dipinto nella tribuna sembra maniera di Pietro Perugino. Dalla porticella a destra si scende ad una devota cappella divisa in due, una dedicata alla ss. Pietà, e l'altra alla s. Imperatrice, nella quale ella aveva fatto riporre della terra portata da' luoghi santi di Gerusalemme: perciò non è lecito di entrarvi le donne, ed è ornata di mosaici e di marmi. I quadri ne' tre altari sono di Pietro Paolo Rubens, e le pitture a fresco del Pomaranci. Il bassorilievo della Pietà è opera di autore incerto, ed il deposito del Cardinal Besozzi è d'Innocenzo Spinazzi. Tornando poi in chiesa, il quadro del primo altare è di Luigi Garzi, ed il s. Tommaso nell' ultima è di Giuseppe Passeri. È questa una delle sette chiese, ed è ufiziata da' monaci Cisterciensi. Lo stradone d'incontro, che porta alla basilica di s. Maria Maggiore, fu fatto da Sisto V. e quello a sinistra, che va al Laterano, dal mentovato Benedetto XIV.
Nella vigna a destra si vedono delle rovine, e li credono essere del tempio di Venere, e Cupido.
Camminando poi appresso le mura, poco dopo la divisata porta di s. Giovanni, evvi una piccola cappelletta in cui si fa memoria di s. Margherita.


Next plate in Book 3: Basilica di S. Lorenzo fuori le Mura
You have completed Day 1! Move to Day 2.
Next step in your tour of Rione Monti: Porta S. Giovanni