Day 27 - Monday, 4th Week of Lent - Santi Quattro Coronati al Celio

Now if you are thinking, as we walk up to today's station, "Wow, this looks like a fortified Medieval castle!" well, you would be thinking right!  It does look quite like a Medieval castle.

Above: Santi Quattro Coronati Church and Monastery, rising above the city

One reaches this ancient church from the Via dei Quercetti, the street of the oak trees. The original church was built on the slopes of villas and vineyards. The country ambiance and fortress aspect of this basilica are unique in Rome, and although not far from a busy area, seem to transport us to another time & place.

Above: Entrance and Leo IV's Tower

Santi Quattro Coronati al Celio

You can see from the floor plan below, that there is an outer court, and then an inner court that you must cross to get to the church.  There is also a convent, a cloister, and over by the cloister, but off the plan, is the cardinal's palace.  It all looks rather rustic and old, but sort of homey, walking in.  Watch out for the nuns buzzing into the courtyard in their tiny cars!

Floorplan - Santi Quattro Coronati

Below is the first courtyard, looking back out the front gate. 

Below that is the first courtyard looking through the gate to the second courtyard.  Below that is the second courtyard, where we are standing on the portico of the church and looking back toward the first courtyard.

Above:  The First Courtyard - looking back through the entrance

Above:  First courtyard - looking through the gate to the second courtyard

Above: In the Inner Courtyard, standing in the portico of the church, looking back to the first courtyard

Above:  Inner courtyard - the portico of the church is at the left, the convent is to the right.

Above:  The Entrance Door - from the inner courtyard

As the name of the church implies, it is dedicated to the Four Holy Crowned Ones.  Legend has preserved for us that these were four Roman soldiers (according to tradition, Severus, Severinus, Victorinus and Carpophorus) who received the crown of martyrdom during the Great Persecution of  Diocletian (284-305) for refusing to sacrifice to the pagan god Asclepius, the god of healing. Five centuries later, the relics of these martyrs were brought from a cemetery outside Rome and interred in the basilica along with the relics of five other martyrs from the same period, from what is now Hungary — five sculptors (Claudius, Nicostratus, Castor, Sempronianus and Simplicius) who were martyred for refusing to sculpt a statue of the same god, Asclepius. 

The Exterior of the Apse and the Cardinalatial Palace

In the late Middle Ages, the monastery here was sometimes a refuge for Popes escaping conspiracies and conflicts in the nearby Lateran Palace where they lived at the time.  It also served as protected lodgings for important visitors to the papal court, who sometimes led colorful lives and had enemies from whom they needed protection.

Ancient and Medieval Stonework

Now here is something to ponder.  This building goes back to pre-Christian Rome!

This is what it looked like before the city built up around it.  Impressive!

Church of Sts. Quattro Coronati, c.1880, by Ettore Roesler Franz

Below: Interior views of the Church

Interior - Triumphal Arch and Apse

Apse 

Dome Ceiling of the Apse

There are beautiful, though sometimes worn, frescoes throughout.  Behind the apse, seven panels tell the story of the sculptor saints, while four frescoes portray the scourging and burial of the soldier martyrs.  An elaborate painting of "The Glory of All the Saints in Heaven" spreads across the dome of the apse (all from the early 17th century).

Above:  Martyrdom of the Four Holy Crowned Ones - frescoes in apse

Frescoes

Above:  High altar and apse

Above:  The Tabernacle

Floor of the central aisle

The spiritual harmony and peace of this well-ordered place is grounded in the contemplative life of the cloistered Augustinian nuns, who have been the caretakers of the church and residents of  the convent since the mid-fifteenth century. The eighteen enclosed nuns specialize in liturgical chant, and their order is famous for its beautiful singing.  While we were there the organist was practicing, and it was not difficult to imagine the glory of Mass being celebrated there.  On Sundays at 11:00 AM, a Mass with ethereal liturgical music is open to the public.  The effect is a sense of timelessness, reminding us of the true catholicity of our Church.  Universal — all times and all places — all present before the One Sacrifice on the altar — One Faith and One Lord, now and forever!  Amen and amen!

The Cloister

In the Cloister

Above:  Cloister gallery 

Above: Door to Pope St Silvester's Chapel  

The Fresco below is is an enlargement of the one above the door.

Above:  The Four Holy Crowned Ones above the door to the Chapel

Just one more delight for pilgrims here.  We must not miss the Chapel of St Sylvester; we enter it from the inner courtyard.  We saw the door in the picture above with its fresco of the 4 soldier-martyrs.  Inside is a rather small room, with walls covered in frescoes, telling the story of Pope St Sylvester, curing Constantine of leprosy.

Below:  The Oratory of Saint Sylvester, at Santi Quattro Coronati

As it turns out, the story about Constantine having leprosy and Pope St Sylvester curing him, was made up to support an early Medieval forgery called the Donation of Constantine.  Well that's sad, but it's it's still a wonderful chapel!

Above:  Christ in Glory - fresco in the oratory of St Sylvester 

Above:  Constantine in bed with Leprosy

Above: Constantine's soldiers riding to get Pope Silvester

Pope Silvester receives the Donation of Constantine (notice the horse & rider levitating ! ! !)

Above:  The soldiers beg Pope Sylvester to come with them

Above:  Pope Sylevester offers the healing presence of the Apostles Peter and Paul in an icon

Above: Baptism of Constantine after Healing