Santa Croce in Gerusalemme — Holy Cross in Jerusalem in Rome.
Santa Croce in Gerusalemme stands near the Lateran, in the south-east of the city. It is one of the seven pilgrimage basilicas of Rome. It houses the relics of St Helena, mother of the emperor Constantine the Great.
Getting there : San Giovanni metro station. By tram, line 3 to Piazza Santa Croce in Gerusalemme. By bus, lines no. 16, 81, 649 …
Address : Piazza di Santa Croce in Gerusalemme, 12
Opening hours : every day from 7:00 to 12:45 and 15:30 to 19:30.
Ticket prices: free admission.
The history of Santa Croce in Gerusalemme goes back to the imperial period, making it one of the oldest churches in Rome.
Indeed, St Helena, mother of the emperor Constantine (who would be the first emperor to convert to Christianity on his deathbed), had her palace on this site.
In 329, St Helena returned from a pilgrimage to Jerusalem from which she had brought back, among other things, a fragment of the cross on which Christ had been crucified.
She died the same year and Constantine decided to convert part of the palace into a church to house the relics found by his mother.
This early church was heavily remodelled in the 12th century under Pope Lucius II, who turned it into a Romanesque building whose fine campanile we can still admire.
The façade of Santa Croce in Gerusalemme is surmounted by several statues: on the left St Helena bearing the True Cross, on the right the emperor Constantine and the four Evangelists. Set back, you can also admire the very fine 12th-century campanile.
Its present appearance dates from the 18th century under the pontificate of Benedict XIV, who had the fine and original Baroque façade added.
Inside, Santa Croce in Gerusalemme has a three-aisled plan. The granite columns you see are still those of the early basilica; the others have been walled up. The original plan can nevertheless still be discerned. The floor is particularly fine, in Cosmatesque style.
In the choir, a magnificent fresco of the late 15th century illustrates the discovery of the True Cross by St Helena, presented in comic-strip form.
Beneath the church you will find the Chapel of St Helena, which contains a magnificent 16th-century mosaic vault showing Christ blessing at the centre surrounded by the Evangelists and the depiction of four legends devoted to the Cross.
The second chapel is dedicated to St Gregory; it is decorated with frescoes and a 17th-century Pietà.
The third chapel, built in the 20th century, houses the relics brought back by St Helena.
They are contained in six reliquaries. You can thus see pieces of the True Cross and its inscription, a nail of the Passion, thorns from Christ's crown, fragments of the crib of Bethlehem and the finger of St Thomas!
