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Address: via Col Moschin, Isola Sacra, Fiumicino, RM

Description

Palaeo-Christian basilica

Thanks to a successful excavation campaign that began in 1970, a Christian basilica from the 4th century AD has been brought to light in the area adjacent to the Romanesque bell tower of Sant'Ippolito.

The excavations revealed that the area had already been occupied by earlier constructions; in fact, some heated rooms were found under the basilica, perhaps connected to a thermal bath situated to the northwest. Later, the area was occupied by a number of burials, perhaps part of the large necropolis of Porto. In this area a first apsidal room was built, perhaps already dedicated to the martyr Hippolytus, who according to tradition was killed in the 3rd century near the Fiumicino canal. This small building was rebuilt at the end of the 4th century in the form of a three-nave basilica with a portico in front; destroyed in 455 AD during the Vandal sacking, it was later rebuilt and then embellished by Pope Leo III (795-816) with a splendid ciborium, now reconstructed in the adjoining Antiquarium.

In a phase following the 9th century, the three openings on the façade were closed and the inner naves were reduced from three to one; in the central space there was the schola cantorum, an enclosure used by singers in particular rites, while on the left there was a baptistery with a circular plan. In addition, a strigilated sarcophagus containing the bones of several people was found in the presbytery area, with the inscription 'Hic requiescit beatus Ypolitus mar(tyr)'. The church became the seat of the Bishop of Porto in the 11th century, but in the 15th century it fell into disrepair and was never rebuilt.

In the adjacent Antiquarium, inaugurated on the occasion of the Jubilee of 2000, are preserved the sarcophagus of Hippolytus, the inscription to the martyr and the ciborium of Leo III, reconstructed thanks to the fragments found.

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Last checked: 2023-03-09 13:55