5/5 Stefano P. 5 years ago on Google • 260 reviews
The
church
was
originally
a
part
of
the
imperial
funerary
complex
established
here
by
the
family
of
Emperor
Constantine
I,
which
may
have
been
originally
intended
for
the
emperor
himself.
For
a
wider
treatment
of
this
complex,
see
Sant'Agnese
fuori
le
Mura
-Basilica
Constantiniana.
After
an
archaeological
excavation
in
1992,
the
status
of
this
church
has
been
under
review.
The
traditional
historical
analysis
was
that
it
was
built
between
351
and
357
as
a
joint
mausoleum
for
Constantina,
a
daughter
of
the
emperor,
and
Fausta,
who
was
resident
at
Rome
at
the
time
but
who
died
at
Bithynia
in
Asia
Minor
in
354.
However,
her
body
was
brought
back
and
interred
here
in
a
sarcophagus
of
imperial
porphyry
quarried
at
Mons
Porphyrites
in
the
Eastern
Desert
of
Egypt.
She
was
later
joined
by
her
sister
Helena,
who
died
in
360
and
who
had
been
the
wife
of
Emperor
Julian
the
Apostate.
Another,
smaller
sarcophagus
was
duly
provided
for
Helena.
The
excavation
revealed
an
earlier
building
on
the
site,
in
the
form
of
a
small
(ten
metres
wide)
triconch
(clover-leaf
shaped)
edifice
attached
to
the
Basilica
Constantina
and
entered
from
it.
Hence,
the
present
mausoleum
cannot
have
been
built
as
part
of
the
original
funerary
complex
but
the
triconch
was,
as
its
fabric
was
integral
with
that
of
the
basilica.
The
revisionist
thesis
is
that
Constantina
had
been
buried
within
this
triconch,
in
the
smaller
sarcophagus
that
used
to
be
ascribed
to
Helena.
After
the
latter
empress
died,
the
present
building
and
the
larger
sarcophagus
were
then
provided
for
her
by
Emperor
Julian.
This
would
push
the
date
of
the
structure
back
to
after
360,
when
Helena's
body
was
brought
back
from
Gaul
where
she
had
died.
A
tentative
terminus
ad
quem
for
construction
is
the
late
370's,
based
on
stylistic
evidence
provided
by
the
mosaics.
The
building
survived
the
collapse
of
ancient
Roman
civilization
intact.
It
first
appears
in
mediaeval
history
when
Pope
Nicholas
I
celebrated
Mass
here
in
865,
and
this
occasion
was
also
the
first
time
that
the
erroneous
name
Sanctae
Constantiae
appeared.
So,
by
this
time
a
legend
had
grown
up
identifying
Constantina
as
a
saint
called
Constantia,
who
was
an
alleged
(non-existent)
daughter
of
Constantine
and
a
hermit
at
the
catacombs
of
St
Agnes.
Flavia
Julia
Constantia
was
actually
the
half-sister
of
the
emperor.
Although
the
Roman
martyrology
never
listed
this
St
Constantia,
who
is
the
source
of
the
English
name
Constance,
she
was
to
be
celebrated
at
the
church
with
a
feast-day
on
February
25th.
The
mausoleum
was
only
formally
converted
into
a
church
in
1256
by
Pope
Alexander
IV,
when
he
consecrated
it.
In
the
process
he
took
the
alleged
relics
of
"St
Constantia"
from
the
larger
sarcophagus
and
installed
them
under
the
central
altar;
unfortunately,
these
are
very
likely
to
belong
to
the
empress
Helena
wife
of
Julian!
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