Church of St. Catherine, Rome. Orthodox Rome: what an Orthodox pilgrim needs to visit
In 2009, a Russian Orthodox church was consecrated in Rome. So that Russian Orthodox people know that in the Eternal City they now have own house, was filmed documentary, dedicated to the history of construction. Archbishop Mark of Yegoryevsk, members of the temple’s board of trustees and other people involved in its creation spoke about the film and the Church of the Great Martyr Catherine, about its coming.
Archbishop Mark of Yegoryevsk, head of the Moscow Patriarchate Office for Foreign Institutions, is one of the initiators of the construction of the Church of the Great Martyr Catherine in Rome. Vladyka Mark consecrated the domes and crosses of the temple during construction, and came to both the Small and Great consecration. “We often perceive the city of Rome only from the point of view of modernity, as the capital of the Catholic world,” says Bishop Mark. “However, for us, Rome is a much deeper concept. This is the city of saints, a place watered with the blood of Christian martyrs, a place where the Church strengthened and strengthened, and for us it is this heritage of Rome that is decisive.”
About how the Russian Orthodox Church Rome had its own temple and parish, the film “Russian House on the Banks of the Tiber” was shot. In the film, the historian Mikhail Talalay talks about the shrines of Rome, about the Orthodox Church of St. Nicholas on Palestro Street in Rome - its cleric of the Church of St. Nicholas, Hegumen German (Kamalov), cleric of the Church of the Great Martyr Catherine in Rome, Hegumen Philip (Vasiltsev), Russian Ambassador to Italy Alexey Meshkov, member of the temple's board of trustees Andris Liepa and others.
The idea of building a Russian Orthodox church in Rome was expressed in late XIX century by Archimandrite Clement (Vernikovsky), who at that time was the rector of the Russian embassy church. By 1916, funds for construction had been collected, but revolutionary events in Russia the project was prevented. Construction plans were remembered in the 1990s, and His Holiness Patriarch Alexy II blessed the construction. Representatives Catholic Church proposed that the Russian Church transfer one of the existing Catholic churches for use, but the chairman of the DECR, the future Patriarch Kirill, insisted on the decision to return to the 19th-century idea of building a new church. Years passed from identifying the site for construction in 2001 to obtaining a license, construction and consecration of the temple and the first patronal feast. Now the church holds services every day, on Saturdays children study at the parish school, on Sundays and holidays the church is already full (it can accommodate 200-300 people).
Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Russia to Italy Alexey Meshkov says that without the participation of Patriarch Kirill, this project would not have been possible to implement, and the temple itself became a “unifying temple”, since Russian people living in the Fatherland and abroad united around its construction. This unity could not but affect the embassy - it took part in resolving many practical issues and obtaining a license. To build the temple, the City Hall of Rome even had to revise certain laws of the province of Lazio, which includes the city of Rome, since they excluded new construction on this territory. According to the trustees, the temple was built with public money - with funds from private donors without the participation of the state budget.
Temple Architect Andrey Obolensky says that the terrain was conducive to building the composition of the ensemble from the very foot of the hill: “It was necessary to marry the architectural solution typical of Rome and traditions within the Orthodox canon.”
Historian Mikhail Talalay says that many did not believe in the possibility of building a temple far from Russia. Member of the temple board of trustees National artist RF Andris Liepa tells how he spent five years in Rome, working at the Roman Opera, and all these years witnessed the construction: “We were present from the zero cycle until the real ringing of the bells,” and now the artist says about the temple: “This is part of our life.” Andris Liepa remembered, for example, how the design height of the temple was measured in order to compare it with St. Peter's Cathedral, since not a single building in Rome can be taller than it. The project turned out to be higher, and the hill on which the temple was built had to be torn down somewhat.
Cleric of St. Catherine's Church Hegumen Philip (Vasiltsev) says that for many parishioners the temple has become part of their small homeland. Archbishop Mark of Yegorievsk confirms that the life of many emigrants from Russia, Ukraine, Moldova in Italy is not easy, they often work hard, including in families where they look after the elderly, and it is important for them to know that divine services are held here every day, they are welcome here. For them, the temple is more than a temple, it is a home. In few Roman parishes, according to Abbot Philip (Vasiltsev), can one meet so many young families with children.
At a press conference at the Foundation for Social and Cultural Initiatives dedicated to the presentation full version film about the temple, Archbishop Mark of Yegoryevsk said that the act of building the temple itself seemed to him a great miracle. Vladyka recalled how he first came to Rome in 1994: then in Rome there was only the Orthodox Church of St. Nicholas on Palestro Street, it was closed on weekdays, its rector, Archpriest Mikhail Osorgin, came to serve from Paris. That year, the future Archbishop Mark stood at the door of the Church of St. Nicholas, but could not go there. Gradually everything began to change. In 2000, the parish on Palestro Street returned to the Moscow Patriarchate, the name of the Patriarch began to be exalted at services, but one church was not enough. Divine services continue to be held there today, but this is a house church, invisible from the street, which many do not know about. “I wanted to build a temple that would remind of Holy Rus' and would be a center of attraction for all Russians living in Italy Orthodox people“- continues Archbishop Mark.
It turned out that building a new temple in Rome is very difficult. The idea was initially perceived by the municipality as nonsense, although thousands of Russian-speaking people live and work in Rome. Gradually they got used to this idea, and permission to build the temple was issued. Archbishop Mark says that donations for the zero cycle - piles and foundation - were much less willing than when the building began to take shape. The board of trustees has not yet been dissolved; paintings and landscaping are still needed, but Archbishop Mark also highlights other tasks: “It’s not enough to build a temple, we also need to create a church. A temple is just a building, but a church is a gathering of believers, a community. Building the church continues to be a task, although many people come to the temple.” Early liturgies are celebrated in the Moldovan language, since the community of Moldovans in Rome is large, later ones - in Church Slavonic. The church also hosts other events - for example, a conference on Slavic studies. “God grant that the church is full of life—ecclesiastical, cultural, educational, social.”
Vice President of the Foundation for Social and Cultural Initiatives Tatyana Shumova added that she often visits Rome, and most recently witnessed the opening of the Year of Italy in Russia and Russia in Italy, was on the eve of the Presentation in the Church of St. Catherine, and saw that there were a lot of people at the service. “The church as a community is replenished with the daily arrival of new and new parishioners. This temple now has a place for gatherings - a library, a cultural and spiritual center, where readings and evenings are held, where people gather and discuss pressing issues.”
Today the parish of the Church of the Martyr Catherine in Rome is stauropegial, that is, His Holiness Patriarch Kirill has become its rector. However, relatively recently, the Holy Synod decided to create a separate diocese of Orthodox parishes in Italy and appoint a bishop. On February 4 of this year, a decree of the President of Italy was signed recognizing the official Administration of the Orthodox Church in Italy (before that entity was only at the parish of St. Catherine). There are now about 30 parishes in Italy, and they are all growing. The administration was not called a diocese, but if one day a bishop is appointed to the Italian parishes, the Church of St. Catherine in Rome could become the center of his ministry.
In the meantime, the goal of the temple trustees is to tell as many people as possible about it. If soon after the consecration even Roman taxi drivers did not know about the temple, now it has appeared on all maps on the Internet - in Google, Yandex, etc., guides and maps with information about it are published. In addition, the trustees are seeking contacts with travel agencies that may include the temple in their tour itineraries. Material about the temple will be published in Aeroflot's in-flight magazine.
A shortened version of the film “Russian House on the Banks of the Tiber” has already been presented on television, and today The full version of the film (52 minutes) has been edited, which will soon be distributed on disk, and will also probably be posted on the Vesti channel on the Internet for viewing.
After the Russian embassy in Rome became Soviet, they were sold a church plot of land where the domes of the future church would rise. But the Russian Romans were not left without divine services. Back in 1897, Princess Maria Alexandrovna Chernysheva bequeathed to the community her ancient palazzo on Via Palestro, the first mention of which dates back to 1803. But, due to legal difficulties, the parish officially received the inheritance only in 1931.
On April 10, 1932, a newly built church was consecrated in Chernysheva’s palazzo. The left half of the first floor is reserved for the temple. The construction project was drawn up by engineer F. Poggi and Prince V.A. Volkonsky, who cared a lot about temple construction. Initially, a cruciform plan for the church was developed, but, unfortunately, the proximity of the neighboring site did not allow the construction of the left “branch” of the cross. On the side of the courtyard, a special extension was made with a semicircular apse for the front part of the church (starting from the solea). Internal structures and partitions were removed and arches were built, giving the temple a cozy appearance. The altar and pre-altar arches are lined with golden mosaics and green marble, imparting beauty and solemnity to the hall with additional lighting. Princess S.N. Baryatinskaya (in memory of her late husband V.V. Baryatinsky), Princess S.V. Gagarin (in memory of his late parents), as well as Queen of Italy Elena of Montenegro. On the main staircase at the entrance to the church there are marble plaques expressing gratitude to the organizers of the St. Nicholas Russian Church: Archimandrite Simeon, Princess M.A. Chernysheva and Princess S.N. Baryatinskaya.
In the 1960s, the temple was subordinated to the Geneva diocese of the ROCOR. In 1985, the temple came under the jurisdiction of the Western European Exarchate of Russian parishes of the Patriarchate of Constantinople. In October 2000, after 15 years in the Patriarchate of Constantinople, the Russian parish of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker in Rome decided to return to the bosom of the Mother Church under the Omophorion of His Holiness Patriarch Alexy II . From that time on, the parish became stauropegic.
Information from the site: http://zarubezhje.narod.ru/italy/
Replaced Fr. Pimen Archimandrite Clement (in the world Konstantin Bernikovsky) took the initiative to build a Russian church. This was started by the widow of the court councilor, Elizaveta Kovalskaya, who lived in Italy, and in 1880 she appealed to the Holy Synod with a request for permission to build a church at her expense in the cemetery of St. Lawrence in Verano, in order to “honor the memory of her husband, who served in Rome.” The church authorities decided to make inquiries, and the Russian ambassador, Baron Iskul, responded to the request of the Holy Synod as follows: “A temple in the world center of the Roman Catholic faith must correspond to the high significance of Orthodoxy and, at least, not be inferior in size and elegance to non-Catholic churches, which have been built in Italy since 1870... Kowalskaya’s funds are not sufficient...” As a result, the widow did not receive permission (the Russian ambassador was a Lutheran, and with no less effectiveness prevented the construction of the Orthodox Church in Florence).
Archimandrite Clement (later Bishop of Vinnitsa) from the very beginning of his abbot declared “the need to have an Orthodox church that meets the dignity of Orthodoxy and the greatness of the Fatherland.” Already in 1898, fundraising began, which in 1900 was officially authorized by Nicholas II, who made a “royal contribution” of 10 thousand rubles. A total of 265 thousand Italian lire were collected. Count L.A. Bobrinsky (+ 1915) promised to donate his house and garden in the center of Rome (Villa Malta) for the construction of the temple. The new rector appointed in 1902, Archimandrite Vladimir (in the world Vsevolod Putyata), questioned the value of Bobrinsky's site (Villa Malta went to Bobrinsky's heirs, and then to the Jesuit fathers) and suggested looking for another place. He rejected the original candidate of the architect, M. T. Preobrazhensky, the builder of the Russian church in Florence, and began to promote his own candidate, the architect A. Yu. Yagna. Disputes divided the participants in church construction, but the work still continued: in 1906, the Construction Committee was formed, which included Russian diplomats in Italy, members of the Russian colony and Archimandrite Vladimir.
Based on materials from the parish website
The church in Rome is the oldest existing Russian church in Italy. On October 6, 1803, Emperor Alexander I signed the proposal of the College of Foreign Affairs for its establishment at the Russian mission, accredited to the Papal Throne. From the abolished Zakharyev Church in St. Petersburg and the embassy church that was not sent to Turin (1788), the necessary liturgical objects made of silver, candlesticks and the Gospel in an expensive setting were taken. The iconostasis was made specially. A priest was also appointed - young Fr. Vasily Ioannovich Ivanov. Relations with the Papal State, however, soon deteriorated - it handed over the Russian consul, a French political emigrant, to Napoleon, and therefore the opening of the church in Rome did not take place. In 1805, the prepared decoration was transferred to the temple of the Life Guards Cavalry Regiment in St. Petersburg.
In 1828, on the initiative of Prince. According to the design of K.A. Ton, a house church was built in the mission house of G.I. Gagarin. The white and gilded single-tier iconostasis was made according to the sketch of this architect. Local images of the Savior and Mother of God written by P. V. Basin, medallions in the royal doors - K. P. Bryullov, “ last supper" - I. I. Gaberzettel, St. Nicholas - F. A. Bruni, St. Alexander Nevsky - A. T. Markov. All of these artists were in Rome as pensioners of the Academy of Arts.
St. Nicholas Church was located until 1901 in buildings rented by the Russian embassy. In 1836-1845 it was Palazzo Doria Pamphili on Piazza Navona, in 1845-1856 - Palazzo Giustiniani on Piazza San Luigi dei Francesi, near the Pantheon, in 1856-1901 - Palazzo Odescalchi on Corso Umberto. In 1867-1870, the St. Nicholas Embassy Church did not function due to worsening relations with the Vatican, and Russians went to Naples for services.
When the embassy moved to Via Gaeta in 1901, the church was placed separately, in Palazzo Menotti, in Piazza Cavour. She occupied three large rooms on the southern half of the lower floor. In a narrow room, on the east side, there was a sacristy and a church library. For renting this room, designed for 300 people, Russian Ministry foreign affairs paid 7,500 lire.
The decoration was replenished with valuable donations. The Greek prince Christopher Georgievich presented a reliquary cross, his sister Maria - an icon of St. Olga own work; 18 small icons of Kyiv saints come from Plakhov’s workshop; four icons in icon cases were delivered in 1893 from the workshop of M. E. Malyshev in Sergiev Posad. The revered icon of the Iveron Mother of God was painted in 1901 by the people of Athos in memory of the emperor Alexandra III. After the revolution, a large image of St. came into the temple. Savva Serbsky, performed in Serbia by the Russian emigrant L. I. Rodionova.
By staffing table In 1867, the clergy of the church consisted of a rector-archimandrite who knew Catholicism well, a deacon and two psalm-readers. The choir was hired and Italians often sang in Slavic. Usually the rector was appointed for three years, after which he left for his homeland and often became a bishop there. For example, from 1913 to 1916 the rector was Archimandrite. Philip (Gumilevsky), future Archbishop of Zvenigorod. However, some archimandrites remained for a longer period: for example, in 1884-1897, Archimandrite served as rector. Pimen (Blagovo), who compiled the famous memoirs “Grandmother’s Stories” and opened the hospice house of St. Stanisław, who later returned to the Polish Catholics.
Under the rector, Archimandrite Clement (Vernikovsky), later Bishop of Vinnitsa, in 1898 began collecting funds for the construction of a separate Russian church in Rome, since, as noted, “the embassy church very modestly represents the Russian Church, faithful to Ecumenical Orthodoxy, in the center of Latinism.” The Emperor donated 10 thousand rubles. It should be noted that the first attempt of this kind was made earlier - in 1879, when Elizaveta Kovalskaya, the widow of an embassy employee, proposed to build a church in the Verano cemetery, but the Synod rejected her initiative.
In 1902, Archimandrite was appointed rector of Rome. Vladimir (Putyata), who five years later became Bishop of Kronstadt, vicar of the St. Petersburg diocese, responsible for Russian churches abroad. He actively took up the construction of the temple, but, being a conflicted person by nature, he rejected the candidacy of the prominent architect M. T. Preobrazhensky, the author of the church in Florence, proposing instead the little-known A. Yu. Yagna. At the same time, the abbot also rejected the building site donated by Count. L.A. Bobrinsky in a prestigious quarter.
Nevertheless, things moved forward: in 1906 a construction committee was formed, in 1913, under the rector, Archimandrite. Dionysius (Valedinsky) was allowed to collect donations in Russia, and on May 14 of the same year, the sovereign approved the preliminary design of the new temple, drawn up by Academician. V. A. Pokrovsky. According to the estimate, it was assumed that construction would cost 450 thousand rubles. The building was conceived in the style of Vladimir-Moscow architecture of the 15th-16th centuries, and consisted of a lower, single-altar church on the ground floor and a three-altared upper church, to which a wide staircase led. The temple ended with a dome on a high drum. The white stone massive building was supposed to look very majestic and expressive, reminiscent of the Assumption Cathedral of the Moscow Kremlin.
Soon the First began World War. In 1915 the book. S. S. Abamelek-Lazarev, philanthropist and owner of a magnificent villa in Rome, began preparatory work on a plot of two hectares on the banks of the Tiber, near Ponte Margherita. They were led by the Italian architect Vincenzo Moraldi, but they failed to implement the temple construction project due to the changes that had come in Russia. By 1916, 265 thousand liras were collected. Later, the Soviet embassy, which took possession of the property of the Russian embassy, sold the land it did not need. The Russians then failed to build their own church in the center of Catholicism.
After the revolution, the church continued to operate in Palazzo Menotti, but in 1921 it was converted from an embassy to a parish archimandrite. Simeon (Narbekov). He graduated from the university and the Theological Academy in Moscow, became head of the clergy in Rome in 1916 and served for forty years. Under him, St. Nicholas Church moved to a new building - the Chernysheva Palazzo on Via Palestro, bequeathed back in 1897, but due to legal complications only in 1931 came into the possession of the parish. In this palazzo, on April 10, 1932, the church was consecrated, the construction of which was financially contributed by: Prince. S. N. Baryatinskaya, prince. S.V. Gagarina and Queen of Italy Elena (Njegos), daughter of the King of Montenegro. The adaptation of the lower floor of the mansion into a temple was carried out by the architect Prince. V. A. Volkonsky and engineer F. Poggi. A semicircular apse was added from the side of the courtyard, partitions were removed inside and arches were made, the altar was lined with golden mosaics and green marble, and stained glass windows were decorated with salt. The iconostasis remained the same.
During this period, the parish was under the jurisdiction of the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad, directly, until 1985, subordinate to its first hierarch. In 1963 archim. Simeon left the staff, and his place was taken by an expert in patristics, Archimandrite. Ambrose (Pogodin), after whom the white clergy began to rule. It maintained the temple, renting out apartments in the palazzo. In 1966-1984 parishioners - mostly elderly emigrants - were cared for by Fr. Victor Ilyenko, a kind but firm shepherd. Since 1987 this has been continued by Archpriest. Mikhail Osorgin, who came from France, because the community submitted to the Western European Exarchate of the Ecumenical Patriarchate. Under his leadership, in October 2000 it became part of the Moscow Patriarchate and the temple became stauropegial.
Russians who died in Rome were buried mainly in the “non-Catholic” cemetery of Testaccio (with funeral services in the interfaith chapel), as well as in the city cemetery of Verano. Many abbots and elders of the Roman church, representatives of noble families are buried on Testaccio: the Gagarins, Golitsyns, Volkonskys, Stroganovs, Trubetskoys, Sheremetevs and others; artists: K. P. Bryullov, A. I. Ivanov, P. A. Svedomsky, sculptor P. A. Stawasser, singer F. P. Komissarzhevsky, poet Vyach. I. Ivanov (transferred to 1986 from Verano), Tolstoy’s daughter - T. L. Tolstaya-Sukhotina. In the Verano cemetery you can find the graves of gr. A.V. Tatishcheva, E.P. Nosova (nee Ryabushinskaya), Shulginykh, bar. Veidtov.
Currently, services in the Roman church are attended not only by Russians, but also by Serbs, Bulgarians, Romanians, Ethiopians, Greeks and Italian converts to Orthodoxy. Behind last years the community grew due to new emigrants, but not as much as in other Russian churches European capitals. The service is performed in Church Slavonic.
In 1998, an initiative arose to build a new church, however, its implementation turned out to be very troublesome. According to the project of A. Obolensky, the Church of St. Catherine's church was founded on January 13, 2001 by Bishop Innocent of Korsun at the Villa Abamelek, where the residence of the Russian Ambassador is located. The laying ceremony was attended by the foreign ministers of Russia and Italy, Orthodox and Catholic bishops. Construction work, however, began only on May 6, 2003 after a solemn prayer service and was completed in 2009.
http://www.artrz.ru/menu/1804649234/1805049227.html
The Pantheon, also known as the "Temple of All Gods" is one of the main attractions of Rome and the whole ancient culture. The inscription on the pediment reads: “M. AGRIPPA L F COS TERTIUM FECIT”, which translated sounds like: “Marcus Agrippa, elected consul for the third time, erected this.” The main advantage of the Pantheon is its huge dome, made of monolithic concrete. In the center of the dome there is a round hole framed in bronze. Through it, during the period of noon, the temple penetrates greatest number light, which does not dissect, but remains in the form of a giant sunbeam. It seems that the light is tangible, and that the Gods themselves descend from Olympus to illuminate this majestic building.
Since 609, the Pantheon was turned into the Christian temple of Santa Maria ad Martires - this is partly why the temple has been so well preserved to this day.
Temple of Saturn
In general, the ancient Romans very often erected all kinds of structures in honor of the gods, who, as a sign of gratitude, protected the city from wars and other disasters. Therefore, it is not surprising that after such an important victory, the city authorities decided to pay tribute to Saturn, so that he would continue to protect Rome from cataclysms.
The temple, built in the form of a pseudoperipterus, had two podiums separated from each other by a staircase, and they were decorated with impressively sized columns in the Ionic style. The city's treasury was once kept inside the Temple, along with the accompanying profit and loss papers. There was also a statue of the god of agriculture and gardening, Saturn, which was solemnly carried through the streets of Rome during festive processions. For example, on December 17, a large-scale Saturnalia festival was held near the Temple. Unfortunately, during its existence, Tempio di Saturno survived several fires, and even despite restoration work, only the podium with the colonnade has survived to this day.
Church of St. Catherine
The history of the construction of a Russian Orthodox church in Rome dates back to the 19th century, when the rector of the Russian embassy church, Archimandrite Clement, managed to convince the highest church leadership of the need for this campaign. Fundraising was supported already under Emperor Nicholas II.
Revolutionary events cooled the ardor; it seemed that the construction of the temple was not destined to be carried out. But His Holiness Patriarch of All Rus' Alexy II again turned to the authorities. Already in 2001 on Christmas, on the holiday Happy Easter and on the day of memory of St. Great Martyr Catherine, services were held at the site of the future church. Soon the first stone was solemnly consecrated, and then it was the turn of the domes. Since October 2006, regular services have been held in the temple.
Temple of Vesta
The Temple of Vesta in Rome has been one of the most important and revered buildings in the city since ancient times. The temple was built in honor of the goddess Vesta - the patroness of the hearth. A fire was constantly burning inside the temple, personifying the immortality of Rome and considered sacred for every resident of the city.
The sacred flame was supported by six Vestal priestesses who came from very noble families. The young priestesses lived in a separate house next to the temple and led an ascetic lifestyle, maintaining a vow of celibacy for thirty years. After the end of their service to the Temple, the Vestals became one of the richest residents of Rome and could start a family. Every year, the Romans came to the Temple on July 9 to ask the goddess Vesta for blessings and protection for Rome and their homes.
The round building of the Temple of Vesta is made in the shape of a tholos. It is surrounded by twenty columns, top part which managed to darken from the flame of the sacred fire. In 394, Emperor Theodosius ordered the closure of the Temple, after which it became fairly dilapidated, but still survived to this day.
"Ostia" Cathedral(“beyond the city walls”) stands on the burial site of St. Apostle Paul.
When in 67 the Apostle Paul, by order of Nero, was beheaded with a sword outside the walls of Rome in an area called “Salvia Waters” (Aquae Salviae), where the church in the name of the Holy Apostle Paul “on the three Fountains” is now located, then the Roman pious Christian Lukina (Lucina) collected the sacred remains of St. Paul and buried them with honor in her country estate along the Ostiense road (Via Ostiense). From that time on, this estate became the tomb of ancient Christians, known as the catacombs of St. Lukins.
On the site where this church is located, there once stood the Sessorian Palace, which served as the residence of St. Queen Helena, mother of St. Tsar Constantine (their memory is May 21, old style). It was built within the walls of the palace in 330 by St. Constantine, at the request of his mother, a basilica in the name of the Honest and Life-giving Cross Lord's, or St. Cross in Jerusalem.
The church was founded by Pope Pius (142-157) in the house of St. Novatus, the son of the Apostle Puda, and was built at the request of the Venerable Virgin Praxeda, daughter of the Apostle Puda and sister of St. Novata. In the 9th century. Pope Paschal rebuilt this church almost from its foundation and transferred into it the bodies of the martyrdom that he had collected in various catacombs. According to a legend widespread in Rome, it was St. Praxeda collected the bodies of the martyrs of Christ here
The church stands on the spot where the Apostle Paul suffered martyrdom on June 29, 67.
He himself foreshadowed it in his second letter to his beloved disciple, Apostle Timothy, Bishop of Ephesus: “I am already becoming a sacrifice, and the time of my departure has come: I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith; and now there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the Righteous Judge, will give me on that day; and not only to me, but also to all those who loved His appearing” (2 Tim. 4:6-8). The martyrdom of the Apostle Paul took place this way. IN last days During his earthly life, the Apostle Paul was kept together with the Apostle Peter in the Mamertine prison.
The church was built where the house of the father of the Venerable Pudeniana, the Roman senator Puda, once stood, whom the Apostle Paul mentions in his second letter to Timothy (2 Tim. 4:21).
The church was built on the site of a house that belonged to the holy martyr Clement, Pope of Rome (91-100), shortly after the death of this saint, which followed in Chersonese Tauride, where he was exiled, by order of Trajan, for the name of Christ. At the beginning of the 5th century. the church was rebuilt and took the form of a basilica; in it St. Gregory Dvoeslov gave two of his talks on the Gospels. In 1084, during the Norman invasion of Rome, this basilica was also destroyed. Above the ruins of it in the very beginning of XII V. a new church was built in the name of the same martyr Clement, which still exists today.
The Colosseum got its name from Latin word"giant". This is how the circus, built in Rome under the emperors Flavius Vespasian, Titus and Domitian in the 70-80s, was later named (in the 8th century) for its enormous size. after R.H. and was originally called the Flavian Amphitheatre. Now the origin of this name is traced to the giant statue of Nero that stood nearby, the Colossus of Nero. It was built by Jewish captives from Jerusalem, just as their fathers once built the pyramids for the Egyptian pharaohs.
Catacombs of St. Sebastian existed before the church from which they received their name. In them, in a special cave, the honest relics of the apostles Peter and Paul temporarily rested (in the first half of the 3rd century).
St. Sebastian (December 18) and his retinue suffered in Rome under Diocletian in 257.
The reason for the establishment of the church in this place and for its above name was the following event in the life of the Apostle Peter, which is narrated in the Four Menaions.
Rome Catacombs are called underground cemeteries in which Christians of the first three centuries, for fear of pagans, laid their dead and martyrs, and also sometimes performed divine services.
The catacombs were named after St. Callistus, Pope of Rome, who, even before ascending the papal throne, being an archdeacon of the Roman Church, was in charge, on behalf of Pope Zephyrinus, of the catacombs and worked hard on their arrangement.
St. Agnes suffered during the persecution of Maximilian in 304 on the spot where the church named after her (Chiesa di Sant’Agnese in Agone), erected under St., now stands on Navona Square. Equal to the Apostles Tsar Constantine. Modern building on Piazza Navona - an outstanding Baroque monument (architect Borromini; 1666)
Above the resting place of St. Martyr Lawrence Archdeacon (comm. 10 Aug.) around 300, St. Equal to the Apostles Emperor Constantine, the church is named after him. St. Grigory Dvoeslov,
The dungeon is located at the foot of the Capitoline Hill, on the side of the Roman Forum, under the Church of Joseph the Betrothed (Chiesa di San Giuseppe dei falegnami al Foro Romano), built by the brotherhood of carpenters.
(Panteon), which is a huge round building with a majestic dome, was built by the Roman consul Marcus Agrippa, son-in-law of Emperor Augustus, in 27-25. BC and is dedicated to seven pagan deities. Emperor Hadrian (117-138) rebuilt the Pantheon and dedicated it to “all the gods.” Pagan idolatry was performed in this temple until the 4th century.
The church founded by St. Equal to the Apostles King Constantine in the very place where St. suffered during the persecution of Hadrian in 120. Great Martyr Eustathius Planida, former commander of the Roman troops, his wife Theopistia and their children Agapius and Theopist.
Victorious St. George's Church in the ancient region of Velabro was already known from the 7th century. - as the establishment of diaconia, a center of church charity for the Roman population.
The original description of the church dates back to the time of St. Tsar Constantine; in 560 it was rebuilt by Pope Palagius. In it St. Gregory Dvoeslov conducted his 36th conversation on the Gospels.
The Temple of Maria d'Aracoeli (in Araceli) stands at the very top of the Capitoline Hill, on the ruins of the Temple of Jupiter Capitolinus that was once located here, and was already known in the 6th century. like the church of Santa Maria de Capitolo, that is, Our Lady of the Capitoline
In Rome it is difficult to find a pilgrim who would not visit the Holy Forest - one of the most famous Christian shrines. The Church of the Holy Staircase is located near the Cathedral of St. John in Laterano (San Giovanni in Laterano). The facade of this church by Domenico Fontana dates back to 1585.
The Holy Apostle Peter, by order of King Herod Agrippa, was thrown into prison and bound with two iron chains. But at night, when he was sleeping among two soldiers, an angel of the Lord woke him up, pushing him in the side, and led him out of prison, and the iron chains fell from the hands of the apostle, as it is related in the book of the Acts of the Apostles (Acts 12:1).
The Basilica of the Saints Martyr Bonifatius (Boniface) and Alexios the Man of God on the Aventine Hill in Rome today opens before the eyes of pilgrims in its Baroque “guise”, acquired during a radical restructuring in mid-18th century centuries. And it is difficult to imagine that under this “modern” basilica there are two more, dating back to the 3rd and 9th centuries.
Shrines of northern Italy
– one of the most beautiful cities in northern Italy. The first settlements arose here in the 4th century. BC, thanks to the profitable geographical location on the Adige River. The city received significant development from the middle of the 1st century. BC, when it was included in the Roman Empire. After the fall of the Empire, Verona became the capital of the Lombards and Ostrogoths, but this had little effect on its development, but the Middle Ages decorated it with churches and cathedrals. Roman and gothic styles give the city a unique flavor
According to ancient tradition, St. Luke, a native of Antioch in Syria, who died at an old age (84 years), was buried in the city of Thebes, the capital of the Greek region of Boeotia. At the beginning of the 4th century, his relics were transported to Constantinople, to the Basikica of the Twelve Apostles.
The relic, or part of the relics of St. Nicholas, represents one bone of the left hand and has been located at the Church of San Nicolò in Porto since 1177, as the ancient chronicle says.
To better understand who Saint Thekla is, let's start with the flight of St. ap. Paul from Antioch of Pisis to Iconium. A certain resident of Iconium named Onesiphorus knew that the apostle would pass through their city and went out to meet him on the Royal Road.
One of the most ancient churches in Milan, according to legend, was built by Saint Ambrose of Milan in 379-386, in the area of burials of Christians - victims of religious persecution during the Roman period. At that time the church was called Basilica Martyrum (Basilica of Martyrs).
The idea of building a Russian Orthodox church in Rome was first expressed at the end of the 19th century. Archimandrite Kliment (Vernikovsky), who from 1897 to 1902 served as rector of the Russian Embassy Church. Archimandrite Clement managed to convince the highest church leadership and secular authorities of “the need to have an Orthodox church that corresponds to the dignity of Orthodoxy and the greatness of the Fatherland” in the city of the Supreme Apostles.
Already in 1898, on the initiative of Archimandrite Clement, fundraising began, which in 1900 was officially supported by Nicholas II, who made a “royal contribution” of 10 thousand rubles. Grand Dukes Sergei Alexandrovich and Mikhail Nikolaevich, Moscow factory owners and Siberian gold miners donated money to the temple.
The first composition of the Construction Committee was formed and headed by Archimandrite Kliment (Vernikovsky) and A.I. Nelidov, Russian Ambassador to Italy. It was submitted to the Construction Committee for consideration a large number of projects for the future temple, including those carried out by the famous Russian architect V.A. Pokrovsky and the master of Italian origin Moraldi.
In the fall of 1913, Emperor Nicholas II allowed the collection of donations to begin throughout Russia. During the same period, the Construction Committee issued an appeal that began with the words: “The Throne of God is placed in a rented apartment.” After its publication, fundraising accelerated significantly. In the summer of 1914, the State Bank Russian Empire opened a special account in the name of the church under construction in the St. Petersburg office.
In 1915, the new Construction Committee headed by Prince S.S. Abamelek-Lazarev acquired a plot of the Tiber embankment near Ponte Margherita (Lungotevere Arnaldo da Brescia) in the name of the Russian embassy. By 1916, about 265 thousand liras were collected - these funds could well be enough to carry out necessary work. But the outbreak of revolutionary events in Russia prevented the implementation of the project.
In the early 1990s, the idea of the need to build a Russian Orthodox church in Rome was again expressed. This initiative was blessed.
In 2001, on the territory of the Russian embassy villa Abamelek, which before the revolution belonged to the head of the Construction Committee, Prince S.S. Abamelek-Lazarev, a plot of land was allocated for future construction.
In May of the same year, bells cast at the ZIL plant were installed on the church belfry.
On December 7, 2007, during his visit to Italy, DECR Chairman Metropolitan Kirill of Smolensk and Kaliningrad visited the territory of Villa Abamelek, where he consecrated the Church of St. Equal-to-the-Apostles Constantine and Helena, located on the ground floor of the church of St. Catherine.
