It is a short walk from the twin towers, past the oldest house in Bologna, to Via Santo Stefano. For the most part the journey is under a colonnade of stone, cast in cool shadow to escape the heat which has, by mid-afternoon, risen to 36 degrees. In the piazza the bleached white stone and grey-black cobbles form an approach of perfect symmetry to the red-brick facade of the seven churches, which is also known locally as the Santa Gerusalemme.
The church, in the form of a minor basilica, is named after Saint Stephen who was born in 5 AD and recognised as the first Christian martyr, after he was stoned to death by the Jews for daring to question the authority of the rabbis who refused to accept Jesus Christ as the son of God, the Messiah and the Saviour of All Mankind.
The influence Saint Stephen had in death is not confined to the Catholic Church. He is recognised by the Russian Orthodox Church, the Anglican Church and by Lutherans across Western Europe. The feast day of Saint Stephen is on 26th December and he even sneaks a mention in the old English carol “King Wenceslas.” On entering the complex there is a huge painting of Saint Stephen meeting his end.
The basilica was begun in the 4th century when a city bishop (beatified as Saint Petronius) began building over the original Roman temple of Isis. In this respect and in respect of the Romans building over a water source, the basilica of Saint Stephen is unique in having its own spring.
Saint Petronius wished to have a building that recalled the church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem and to this end set out some of what is seen today. There is however a suggestion that prior to the Hungarians sacking the basilica in the 10th century, the church was much bigger. The damage done was largely repaired by monks after the event, where records were not kept, so it is not possible to verify the scope of the original church.
That notwithstanding the church today comprises;
- The church of Saint Stephen or of the Holy Crucifix which was added to in the 8th century and further enhanced in the 17th century with the addition of a presbytery and a crypt.
- The Church of the Holy Sepulchre (5th century)
- The church of Saint Vitale and Agricola (4th century) and rebuilt in the 12th century.
- Courtyard of Pilates (Santo Giardino 13th century)
- Church of the Trinity or the Martyrium (13th century)
- Cappella Della Benda; the Chapel of The Bandage which is dedicated to the strip of cloth worn around the head of the Virgin Mary as a sign of mourning and built in the 13th century.
- Il Museo del Santo Stefano, which is a chapel turned museum and built in the 19th century.
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I have never been a religious person. In my mind all major religions have the same format; God, Son of God and the Holy Spirit. There is no doubt in my mind that the original message has been diluted to suit a tenuous thing called religion, which has, over centuries, caused more harm than good. I do however have a fascination with the trappings of worship and none more so than when it involves art, architecture and spirituality.
There are places I have visited which are uplifting and just happen to be in places of worship. The tomb to Christopher Columbus in Seville Cathedral is incredibly moving, as is the tomb of Margaret Beaufort, just off the Lady Chapel at Westminster Abbey, not least when you learn that she was married at the age of twelve, a mother and a widow at the age of thirteen and the woman who ended the War of the Roses to start the Tudor Dynasty.
The Church of the Holy Sepulchre was built six hundred years before King Harold died at the Battle of Hastings. It also has a single column of black African marble which was part of the temple of Isis and probably goes back to the first century AD. For many years it was the sacred resting place for the bones of St Petronius and is an octagonal building with the most exquisite formation of light on stone, which changes colour as you walk round.
In ancient times it was possible to crawl under the alter to venerate the remains of the saint and it was customary on Easter morning for the prostitutes of Bologna to visit the Holy Sepulchre in order to offer a secret prayer in memory of Mary Magdalene. It is also the place where the pregnant women of Bologna would come to give thanks for their condition by praying at the alter and circling the building thirty-three times (once for every year of Jesus’s life) before praying for a final time at the fresco of the pregnant Virgin Mary in the Church of the Sacred Martyrium.
In the year 2000 the bones of St Petronius were removed from the Holy Sepulchre and taken to the Basilica of San Petronio where they were reunited with his skull.
The Church of Saint Vitale and Agricola is the oldest part of the complex and has an almost eerie quietness about it. It is dominated by a life-size golden crucifix which hangs on a single cable above the altar. It was once decorated with biblical frescoes but is now down to brick & stone.
Agricola was a Roman who persuaded his slave Vitale to join him in a conversion to Christianity in the 3rd century. Much of what is known about them comes from the writings of Ambrose, who tells us that Eusebius (bishop of Bologna) discovered their bodies in a Jewish cemetery in the year 392/393 AD and built a church on the site of the ampitheatre where they were crucified. It is also known that Agricola was a man of great gentleness and after his conversion entered into a very close relationship with his slave. They were caught in the purge of Christians by Diocletian in 304 AD.
Ambrose and Eusebius were also responsible for the apportion of relics to churches in Milan and Florence which included the nails used to crucify Agricola and Vitale, some congealed blood, various pieces of linen and some bones. What is left of their remains are contained in two urns either side of the altar.
Close to the Church of Saint Vitale and Agricola is an alcove containing the oldest known nativity scene in the world. It is life-sized and fashioned from lime and elm. It was made by an unknown artist in 1291 and was unpainted until the first colour was added by Simone del Crocifissi in 1370. Since then it has only received one restoration in 1981 by Marisa and Otello Caprara where colour and gilding were restored to turn back 500 years of aging.
© Año Nuevo 2024, Going Postal
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Matthew Chapter 27, Verse 24,
So when Pilate saw that he was gaining nothing, but rather that a riot was beginning, he took water and washed his hands before the crowd, saying; I am innocent of this man’s blood, see to it yourselves.
After this, Pilate released Barabbas and had Jesus flogged and crucified. The people responded by saying, “His blood be on us and on our children.”
The courtyard of Pilate is at the centre of the basilica, bordered on three sides by colonnades and contains the tiny chapel of the bandage, which can be viewed through an iron grill. In the centre of the courtyard is a plinth of white marble bearing a broad bowl, which was made in 734 AD. The bowl symbolises the bowl which was used by Pontius Pilate to wash his hands before having Jesus sentenced to death. It bears testimony, in Latin, to his attempt at saving Jesus and has been joined together with iron staples to prevent it being riven apart from age.
The courtyard of Pilate leads on to the Martyrium and to a second courtyard which has been laid out as a poignant reminder of those who lost their lives in the First World War. It is decorated with marble tablets giving the name of each soldier who perished. It is a place of old men and old women who sit in quiet contemplation recalling the sheer futility of a generation lost to an act of gross stupidity. It is a sombre place with little natural light framed by stone, red brick and despair. After a while it becomes claustrophobic, as if all the names have taken away the very air and replaced them with their tears.
The final chapel has been converted to a museum given over to religious paintings and ecclesiastical garbs. It is, for me, perhaps the least interesting part of the complex and resembles the sacrosanct of a minor monastery. It is also devoid of any spirit, almost as if the flame of those fervent Catholic forefathers was extinguished simply to make way for a modern and broader church. For some reason it reminds me of Justin Welby.
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In the vaulted crypt of the Church of St Stephen an old woman kneels in front of a portrait of Padre Pio. In her gnarled hands she has a glass rosary, which she feeds between her fingers. I do not doubt her religious belief but cannot help thinking that God might listen to her if she would but open her heart to what was around her.
The Seven Churches of Bologna is a place like no other, it is steeped in history and exudes a spiritual calm. It was built by men from a different time with different values and is a glorious stimulation for the senses. It is without doubt unique and absolutely well worth a visit.
Article and photographs © AÑO NUEVO 2024
