Lenten Station Church
Thursday After Ash Wednesday
St. George in Velabro
(San Giorgio in Velabro)

St George in Velabro is a church in Rome, Italy, dedicated to St George. The church is located next to the Arch of Janus in the ancient Roman Velabrum (the low valley in the city of Rome that connects the Forum with the Forum Boarium, and the Capitoline Hill with the western slope of the Palatine Hill.) According to the founding legend of Rome, the church was built where Roman history began. It is near here that the mythical she-wolf found the mythical babies, Romulus and Remus. The façade of the church encroaches upon and incorporates the ancient Arcus Argentariorum (an ancient Roman arch that was partly incorporated in the seventh century into the western wall.) The current church was built during the 7th century, possibly by Pope Leo II (682–683), who dedicated it to St Sebastian. The church's plan is irregular, indeed slightly trapezoidal due to frequent additions to the building. The interior columns are almost randomly arranged having been taken from sundry Roman temples. Pope Zachary (741-752), who was of Greek origin, moved the relic of St George to here from Cappadocia so that this saint had a church dedicated in the West well before the spreading of his worship with the return of the Crusaders from the East. The building as we see it today is largely a product of the 1920s restoration. An explosion of a car bomb parked close to the façade at midnight on July 27, 1993, required five years of further restoration. St George in Velabro Exterior Views St George in Velabro Interior Views St George was a soldier of Cappadocian Greek origin and member of the Praetorian Guard for Roman emperor Diocletian, who was sentenced to death for refusing to recant his Christian faith. He became one of the most venerated saints and great martyrs in Christianity, and he has been especially venerated as a military saint since the Crusades. He is respected by Christians, Druze, as well as some Muslims as a martyr of monotheistic faith. One of the most famous of relics displayed at the church is the arm of the St George, who was ordered killed by the Roman Emperor Diocletian for his failure to renounce his faith in Christ. St George's Day is the feast day of St George, celebrated by Christian churches, countries, and cities of which he is the patron saint, including Bulgaria, England, Georgia, Portugal, Romania, Cáceres, Alcoy, Aragon and Catalonia. On your next (or first) visit to Rome, be sure to include on your agenda a tour of St George in Velabro. You are sure to discover fantastic aspects of this historic church. Reference: 'San Giorgio in Velabro' on Wikipedia.org 'Saint George' on Wikipedia.org All Photographs are from Commons.WikiMedia.org St George 1700th Anniversary of Martyrdom 1238 (2003)