San Sebastiano fuori le mura

History

According to the founding tradition, in 258, during the Valerian persecutions, the catacombs were temporarily used as place of sepulture of two other saints martyred in Rome, Peter and Paul. Therefore the first basilica was built as the Basilica Apostolorum ("Basilica of the Apostles") by Constantine I in the first half of the 4th century. The remains of the apostles were later transferred to the two basilicas carrying their names.

St. Sebastian was a popular Roman martyr of the 3rd century whose remains were moved here in around 350. The dedication of the basilica to Sebastian dates to the 9th century.

His remains were transferred to St. Peter's in 826, fearing a Saracen assault: the latter, in fact, materialised, and the basilica was destroyed. The building was refounded under Pope Nicholas I (858–867), while the martyr's altar was reconsecrated by Honorius III (1216–1227), by request of the Cistercians, who had received the place. In the 13th century the arcade of the triple nave was walled in.

S. Sebastiano is one of the seven basilicas which travellers to Rome traditionally visited, especially after 1553 when St. Philip Neri, initiated the Seven Churches Visitation, a special pilgrimage done in one day starting from St. Peter's Basilica and ending at the Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore. The street which links Basilica of Saint Paul Outside the Walls with S. Sebastiano is still called "Via delle Sette Chiese".

The current edifice is largely a 17th-century construction, commissioned by Cardinal Scipione Borghese in 1609 from Flaminio Ponzio and, after Ponzio's death in 1613, entrusted to Giovanni Vasanzio, who completed it.

Overview

The statue of St Sebastian at the altar in the first chapel on the left is by Giuseppe Giorgetti. The Chapel of Relics, located directly across the nave, houses a stone allegedly imprinted with the footprints of Jesus related to the episode of "Quo vadis?" in the apocryphal Acts of Peter; and one of the arrows which struck St Sebastian together with part of the column to which he was tied during the martyrdom. Noteworthy is the Albani Chapel (built 1716) and designed by Carlo Maratta, Alessandro Specchi, Filippo Barigioni and Carlo Fontana; commissioned by Pope Clement XI; and dedicated to Pope Fabian. Fabian had been Bishop of Rome during the persecution of Decius. Flanking the altar, busts of Saints Peter and Paul by Nicolò Cordier recall the first dedication of the basilica.

Bernini

On the right side in a niche, the famous Bust of the Saviour (Salvator Mundi), the last masterpiece by Gian Lorenzo Bernini rediscovered in 2001 in the convent adjacent to the church, is shown.

List of Cardinal-Priests

• Ildebrando Antoniutti (24 May 1962 - 13 September 1973 appointed cardinal bishop of Velletri)
• Sebastiano Baggio (21 December 1973 - 12 December 1974 appointed cardinal bishop of Velletri)
• Johannes Willebrands (6 December 1975 - 2 August 2006 deceased)
• Lluís Martínez Sistach, since 24 November 2007

Burials

• Quirinus of Sescia
• Pope Fabian

Notes

References

• Paolo Coen, Le sette chiese. Le basiliche giubilari romane, Newton Compton, Rome, 1994.
• Claudio Rendina, Enciclopedia di Roma, Newton Compton, Rome, 2000.
• "San Sebastiano fuori le Mura", by Chris Nyborg.

References

1. The granite columns were reused from the 13th-century reconstruction. (TCI, ''Roma e dintorni'')
2. "Secondo la tradizione", Touring Club Italiano, ''Roma e dintorni'' (1965) p. 395.
3. [https://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=it&u=http://www.arte.it/guida-arte/roma/da-vedere/chiesa/basilica-di-san-sebastiano-fuori-le-mura-51&prev=search "The Basilica of St. Sebastian Outside the Walls", Arte.it]
4. According to Touring Club Italiano, ''Roma e dintorni'' (1965) p. 395.
5. Touring Club Italiano, ''Roma e dintorni'', ''eo. loc.''
6. "Guerra santa. Quell'anno in cui i musulmani presero Roma".
7. [https://zenit.org/articles/visiting-the-seven-pilgrim-churches-of-rome/ Schneible, Ann. "Visiting the Seven Pilgrim Churches of Rome", ''Zenit'', November 12, 2012]
8. Erik Inglis, “Inventing Apostolic Impression Relics in Medieval Rome,” Speculum 96/2 (April, 2021), 309-66.
9. About 1716 according to TCI ''Roma e dintorni''.