The Basilica of Saint Praxedes (Latin: Basilica Sanctae Praxedis, Italian: Basilica di Santa Prassede all’Esquillino), commonly known in Italian as Santa Prassede, is an early medieval titular church and minor basilica located near the papal basilica of Saint Mary Major, on Via di Santa Prassede, 9/a in rione Monti of Rome, Italy. The current Cardinal Priest of Titulus Sancta Praxedis is Paul Poupard.

This article needs additional citations for verification. (July 2012)

Quick Facts Basilica of Saint Praxedes, Location ...

Basilica of Saint Praxedes
Basilica di Santa Prassede all’Esquilino (Italian) Basilica Sanctae Praxedis (Latin)
Ceiling of the San Zeno chapel.
Click on the map for a fullscreen view
41°53′46″N 12°29′55″E
Location	9A Via di Santa Prassede Rome
Country	Italy
Denomination	Catholic
Website	Chiesa Rettoria Santa Prassede
History
Status	Minor basilica, titular church
Dedication	Saint Praxedes
Architecture
Style	Byzantine
Groundbreaking	780
Completed	822
Specifications
Length	45 m (148 ft)
Width	30 m (98 ft)
Nave width	17 metres (56 ft)
Clergy
Cardinal protector	Paul Poupard

Close

Dedicated to the second-century saint Praxedes, who with her sister Pudentiana, was said to have provided comfort and care to Christians persecuted in the Roman Empire.^[1][2]

The church incorporates mosaic decoration that mark it among the oldest churches in Rome. A church near this site was present since the fifth century, but the church in its current place and general layout was commissioned by Pope Hadrian I around the year 780 to house the relics (bones) of Saint Praxedes (Italian: S. Prassede) and Saint Pudentiana (Italian: S. Pudenziana), the daughters of Saint Pudens, traditionally St. Peter's first Christian convert in Rome. The church was built atop of the remains of a 4th-century ancient Roman Thermae, privately owned by the family of Pudentiana, and called Terme di Novato.^[3] The two female saints were murdered for providing Christian burial for early martyrs in defiance of Roman law. The basilica was enlarged and decorated by Pope Paschal I in c. 822.

Pope Paschal, who reigned 817–824, was at the forefront of the Carolingian Renaissance started and advocated by the emperor Charlemagne. They desired to get back to the foundations of Christianity theologically and artistically. Paschal, thus, began two, linked, ambitious programs: the recovery of martyrs' bones from the catacombs of Rome and an almost unprecedented church building campaign. Paschal dug up numerous skeletons and transplanted them to this church. The Titulus S. Praxedis was established by Pope Evaristus, around 112. While on a pilgrimage to Rome with his father around 855-856, the young and future English king Alfred the Great was reportedly deeply impressed and inspired by the church's beauty.^[4]

The inscriptions found in Santa Prassede, a valuable source illustrating the history of the church, have been collected and published by Vincenzo Forcella.^[5]

The church contains the oratory of San Zenone.

The church provided the inspiration for Robert Browning's poem "The Bishop Orders His Tomb at Saint Praxed's Church."

The main altarpiece is a canvas of St Praxedes Gathering the Blood of the Martyrs (c. 1730–35) by Domenico Muratori. On the right column of the triumphal arch, above the plaque, there is the Portrait of Cardinal Angelo Maria Querini (1747) by Jacopo Zoboli.

Mosaic

The most famous element of the church is the mosaic decorative program. Paschal hired a team of professional mosaicists to complete the work in the apse, the apsidal arch, and the triumphal arch. In the apse, Jesus is in the center, flanked by Sts. Peter and Paul who present Prassede and Pudenziana to God. On the far left is Paschal, with the square halo of the living, presenting a model of the church as an offering to Jesus. Below runs an inscription of Paschal's, hoping that this offering will be sufficient to secure his place in heaven.

On the apsidal arch are twelve men on each side, holding wreaths of victory, welcoming the souls into heaven. Above them are symbols of the four Gospel writers: Mark, the lion; Matthew, the man; Luke, the bull; and John, the eagle, as they surround a lamb on a throne, a symbol of Christ's eventual return to Earth.

Quick Facts External videos ...

External videos
Santa Prassede (Praxedes), Smarthistory

Close

Those mosaics, as well as those in the Chapel of Saint Zeno, a funerary chapel which Pope Paschal built for his mother, Theodora,^[6] are the best-known aspects of the church. Also noteworthy are ancient frescoes. Ascending a spiral staircase, one enters a small room, covered in scaffolding; on the wall is a fresco cycle, dating most likely from the 8th century. The frescoes probably depict the life-cycle of the name saint of the church, Praxedes.^{[citation needed]}

• Plan.
• Internal façade
• Entrance
• Interior
• Triumphal arch mosaic
• Ceiling of the Chapel of Saint Zeno
• Crypt

.

• Pope Paschal I presenting a model of the Basilica to Christ. His square halo indicates that he was alive when the mosaic was made.
• Funerary monument of Bishop Giovanni Battista Santoni († 1592); bust by Giovanni Lorenzo Bernini, circa 1612.
• "San Tesauro Beccaria" by Domenico Pestrini
• Tomb of Giovanni Carbone, 14th century

• Episcopa Theodora