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Santa Croce in Gerusalemme is a basilica in Rome. It is one of the Seven Pilgrim Churches of Rome.

According to tradition, the basilica was consecrated around 325 to house the Passion Relics brought to Rome from the Holy Land by St. Helena of Constantinople, mother of Constantine I. At that time, the basilica floor was covered with soil from Jerusalem, thus acquiring the title in Hierusalem.

The current Cardinal Priest of the Titulus S. Crucis in Hierusalem is Miloslav Vlk.

Contents 1 History 2 Passion relics 3 Chapel of St. Helena 4 Other artworks 5 References 6 External links

The church is built around a room in St. Helena's imperial palace, Palazzo Sessoriano, which she adapted to a chapel around the year 320. Some decennia later the chapel was turned into a true basilica, called Heleniana or Sessoriana. After falling into neglect, the church was restored by Pope Lucius II (1144-1145). In the occasion it assumed a Romanesque appearance, with three naves, a belfry and a porch.

The church was also modified in the 16th century, but it assumed its current Baroque appearance under Benedict XIV (1740-1758). New streets were also opened to connect the church to the two other Roman basilicas linked to Jesus' life, San Giovanni in Laterano and Santa Maria Maggiore. The façade of Santa Croce, designed by Corrado Giaquinto and Domenico Gregorini, shares the typical late Roman Baroque taste with the former basilicas.

The famous relics, whose authenticity is disputed, are now housed in a Chapel (the Cappella delle Reliquie), built in 1930 by architect Florestano di Fausto. They include: a part of the Elogium or Titulus Crucis, i.e. the panel which was hanged to the Christ's Cross; two thorns of his crown; an incomplete nail; and three small wooden pieces of the True Cross itself. A much larger piece of the holy cross was brought from Santa Croce in Gerusalemme to St. Peter's Basilica on instruction of Pope Urban VIII in the year 1629. It is kept nearby the statue of St. Helena, completed by Andrea Bolgi in 1639. In Santa Croce there are also a finger of St. Thomas and fragments of the grotto of Bethlehem.

The relics were once in the ancient St. Helena's Chapel, which is partly under ground level. Here the founder of the church had some earth from Calvary dispersed, whence the name in Hierusalem of the basilica. In the vault is a mosaic designed by Melozzo da Forlì (before 1485), depicting Jesus Blessing, Histories of the Cross and various saints. The altar has a huge statue of St. Helena, which was obtained from an ancient statue of Juno discovered at Ostia. The mediaeval pilgrim guides considered this chapel so holy that access to women was forbidden.

The apse of church includes frescoes telling the Legends of the True Cross, attributed to Melozzo, to Antoniazzo Romano and Marco Palmezzano. The Museum of the Basilica houses a mosaic icon from the 14th century: according to the legend, Pope Gregory I had it made after a vision of Christ. Notable is also the tomb of Cardinal Francisco Quinones, by Jacopo Sansovino (1536).

Pieter Paul Rubens had been committed by cardinal Albert of Austria for three altarpieces, who had arrived in Rome from Mantua in 1601. These are now in France, in Grasse.

• Paolo Coen, Le Sette Chiese, Newton Compton, Rome
• Claudio Rendina, La grande Enciclopedia di Roma, Netwon Compton, Rome

• www.basilicasantacroce.com - official website
• Santa Croce in Gerusalemme - Churches of Rome by Chris Nyborg
• Santa Croce in Gerusalemme - Sacred Destinations Travel Guide (includes photo gallery)