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We are getting close to the end of our Roman Station church visits. What better way to end our journey than visiting a church that was once one of the best pagan temples of Rome. It is still one of the best-preserved buildings from ancient Roman times. Most first-time visitors can tell you about the Parthenon, but few know where the Basilica of Santa Maria ad Martyres (St. Mary and the Martyrs, in English) is. Ok, let's put a little more perspective on it. Pretend that you are Roman Emperor Phocas in 609 and you have an aging building that you have not used much in the last 200 years. Your good friend Pope Benedict IV has a different sort of problem. He has to figure out what to do with twenty-eight carts loads of human martyr bones gathered from various cemeteries around the city. Perfect solution! Pope Benedict IV gets the building, which was once a pagan temple, declares it to be a church, and buries twenty-eight cartloads of human martyr bones under the altar. Not meaning to be disrespectful, but basically, that is what happened. The building is still better known as the Parthenon rather than by the church name. It is now a church dedicated to Mary; under whose protection the martyr bones have been entrusted.  ▲ Pictured above is an exterior photo of St. Mary at the Martyrs, better known as the Pantheon. Church Building History • 27 BC - building originally built by Marcus Agrippa, son-in-law of Augustus • 80 building suffers fire damage, restored by Emperor Domitian • Suffers lighting damage, restored by Trajan • Hadrian transforms the building into the current structure • 391 building closed by Theodosis the Great • 609 Emperor Phocas gives build to Pope Boniface IV • 663 Constans II of Constantinople strips gilded bronze from roof • 735 Pope Gregory III covers dome with lead • Pope Urban VIII allows Bernini to use bronze from Parthenon for baldachin at St. Peter's • Over the years building material was taken for use in other projects  ▲ Pictured above is an interior photo of St. Mary at the Martyrs, better known as the Pantheon.  : : :
 ▲ Pictured above (right) is the tomb of Raphael, the painter who died in 1520 and (left) is the tomb of Victor Emmanuel II the first king (1870-1900) of a unified Italy. both are buried in the Basilica of Santa Maria ad Martyres.
 References • George Weigel, "Friday Within The Octave Of Easter - Station at St. Mary at the Martyrs" Roman Pilgrimage - The Station Churches Basic Books, Copyright 2013, pages 282-287 • Joseph N. Tylenda, S. J, "Pantheon (S. Maria ad Martyres)" The Pilgrim's Guide To Rome's Principal Churches The Liturgical Press, Copyright 1993, pages 268-272 • Frank J. Korn, "The Pantheon: Hadrian's Masterpiece" A Catholic's Guide To Rome Paulist Press, Copyright 2000, pages 157-159 • Raphael Wikipedia • Victor Emmanuel II Wikipedia< • Pantheon, RomeWikipedia The exterior photograph of the Pantheon shown on this webpage is from the photo collection Marvin Lanahan. The other photographs are from the Wikipedia articles cited above. |
