San Lorenzo fuori le mure

Greetings from Roma!

We've been here three weeks, and have been enjoying our visit until the first week of May. I will have many photos and tales to post and I hope you find these of interest. The weather has basically been very good, and we've been wandering around.

Above is a composite view of the Roman Forum, looking south from the lower part of the Capitoline Hill. The Colosseum is barely visible in the center background, to the left of a slender tower. The Colosseum's upper levels peek over the other buildings.

We deliberately avoided many of the most popular tourist sights during Easter Week and for the week after that, because of the increased number of tourists, pilgrims, and students on "spring break". This is not to say we haven't been going around, and I have nearly 4,000 photos in my computer that say we have been out and about.

We've been trying to see some of the places we sometimes miss, either because of places being "in restoration" (a condition that CAN last decades, mainly due to lack of funding), or their being a little out of our way.

The Basilica San Lorenzo fuori le Mure.

One example of a place we've missed visiting is the basilica of San Lorenzo fuori le mure, (Saint Lawrence outside the Walls). It's really not that much out of the way, and there's even a tram line that goes directly past it. The map from Google below has a scale for kilometeres, which are about 0.6 of a mile. 

Our rental apartment is at the lower left arrow, the Pantheon and the main railway station (Termini) have arrows for reference. Termini is about a mile from San Lorenzo, which matters because in 1943 Allied bombs targeted for the station destroyed parts of this church. (It was fixed up very nicely immediately after the War, as a sign of Italy's rebuilding after the wartime damages.)

St. Lawrence's martyrdom.

San Lorenzo is a popular saint in Italy, and especially in Rome, with several churches dedicated to him. This one is built over what is believed to be his tomb.  When Pope Sixtus was taken away in martyrdom (258 AD) because he would not turn over the treasures of the early, not legally recognized Christian Church, he ordered his deacon Lorenzo to quickly disperse everything he could. When questioned, Lorenzo made believe there were so many treasures of the Church that he would need a little time to sell them, and was granted three days to do so. 

Three days later, Lorenzo was hauled before the magistrates 

and was again ordered to produce the treasures of 

the Church. Lorenzo had with him a crowd of the poorest Romans, who all had received food from the 

secret sale of the Church's limited goods, and told the authorities that 

these people were the treasures of the Church.

(The above photo is from another 

of the Roman churches dedicated to San Lorenzo, this one is San Lorenzo in Lucina,

between the Piazza Navona and 

the Piazza del Popolo, Rome.

Painted by Guiseppe Creti 

in the later 1600's.)

 

Martyrdom of
 San Lorenzo, 
again from 
S. Lorenzo in Lucina.
Beneath the altar of 
this chapel are 
what is believed
 to be the instruments
 of his martyrdom, 
the gridiron and chains.

The Prefect was not pleased, and Lorenzo was ordered to be grilled. There are many tales and paintings of Lorenzo on the grill calling out to his torturers that they should turn him over, as he was quite done on one side. 

Modern Catholic scholars can find no proof of all of this, but the belief at the time was strong enough that nearly a century later, the first Christian Emperor Constantine ordered a basilica built over then still venerated site of Lorenzo's tomb, which was rebuilt, enlarged and embellished over the centuries. There are parts of the current church from the 300's, large sections added in the early 1200's, and other pieces from the 1600's and mid 1800's. 

The church has a lovely website, but it is only in Italian. www.basilicasanlorenzo.it

This website has lovely photos and very clear explanations in English:

http://www.sacred-destinations.com/italy/rome-san-lorenzo

{Sometimes it is necessary to CLICK THE TINY "READ MORE" LINK TO SEE THE REST OF THIS POSTING.}

The Portico.

The church itself is next to a major cemetery, and so is reserved for funeral masses most mornings. 

It is best to visit the church in the afternoons.    

The portico's columns are from older monuments, and the portico also contains some nice frescoes;

unfortunately, these are faded and the details are not distinct even in the strong light of the late afternoon.  

Also in the portico is a more recent memorial, to Alcide Gasperi, a very devoutly Catholic Italian statesman. He was the Prime Minister in eight successive coalition national governments from 1945 to 1953, and also the founder of the Christian Democracy political party. 

Those were very difficult times for Italy. It had not had its own whole-nation, non-king based government before, and the country was in dire economic straits after the damages and human losses of WWII.

Inside San Lorenzo.

A view of the main aisle. The area behind the main altar is from the 300's church, and has excellent columns. The real treat is the mosaics on the other side of the large arch over the altar. The cosmatesque floor was reset after the bombing damage in 1943. 
More on that later, too.

 

Because of the bright light in the  and the darkness in the nave's entry, I nearly missed seeing this splendid pagan sarcophagus that is just inside the church as one enters. 
It was reused by an early Christian, (note the less sophisticated writing carved on the edge of the sarcophagus and its lid), which is why this otherwise thoroughly pagan tomb has a place of honor here. 

Also in a place of honor, on the long wall of the nave, is a bust of now Saint "Padre Pio", a recent addition to the Church's calendar of Saints. I've seen devotional pictures of him in small shops for decades; not for sale, but for the shop-owners' beliefs. 

Here are two of the many details of the 12th century flooring throughout the nave. It was been reset, which is why it is flat and smooth to walk upon, which is a good thing. 

The main altar area.

The main altar is on a raised platform which covers the floor of the original church. 

This brave and handsome lion is probably 
from the 300's era church,
and since the 1200's has stood guard 
at the end of the benches for 
the monks behind the main altar.

This is the Bishop's chair 
(or cathedra -- root word for Cathedral) 
at the rear of the main altar area. 

I was happily admiring the handsome mosaics 
and ancient porphyry stone. 
THEN I remembered to turn around 
to see the mosaics.

The full range of the mosaics shows:  the "BISHOP" Pelagius (Pope Pelagius II, reigned 579-590), presenting a model of his rebuilt church to Jesus through the intercession of San Lorenzo; then St. Peter; Jesus sitting atop the world, to show his dominion; then St. Paul; St. Stephan (the first martyr); and finally St. Hippolytus. 

(An enlargement via Adobe LightRoom photo software
from the wider of the two above photos.)

The book San Lorenzo holds opens says "dispersit dedit pauperibus", which roughly translates disperse the goods to the poor.   They are all between the two mystical cities of Bethlehem and Jerusalem, which represent the church of the Gentiles (the Christians) and the church of the circumcised (the Jews). There are two windows above each city, to allow light to shine into the main nave.

My new camera (Panasonic Lumix DMC-GF7) has many capabilities, but I was too cheap to spring for a zoom lens; also it would have weighed even more than the stationery f1.7 lens I chose. Although strapping young men tote what seems to be a small telescope attached to their large camera, I do not have that much strength. This however was one of the times almost wished I had a zoom lens.

After admiring the mosaic, I descended from the raised altar area and took another look at the rebuilt 300's church beneath it, and the areas to the side. The columns are originals, and are the best preserved I've seen.

The structure in the center of this photo is the baldachino or canopy over the main altar. There is a wall with grilled windows around  the altar from the 300's church above the tomb of San Lorenzo.   The tomb area was locked, so below is a view taken by holding my camera through one of the grills.

    

Above are two views of the right hand side passageway for pilgrims at the level of the 300's church. The left photo is looking back towards the nave, the right is towards an added area with pictures from the 1800's and a tomb for a more recent pope. After seeing the older mosaics, I could not bring myself to give this area more than a fleeting glance. The art was not hideous, I merely didn't like it, and I wanted to find the cloister before the church closed for the evening. I had only seen the cloister in a nice 1800's painting in the Art Institute.

But this entry has become far longer than I anticipated, and you all have other things to do, so I will pause here. I will post an entry about the surprising cloister soon. 

end of this posting

all material © Carol High Johnson