Mausoleum of St. Helena
The monumental complex
The mausoleum of St. Helena and the catacombs of Saints Marcellino and Pietro constitute a monumental complex of fundamental importance for the Tor Pignattara district in the eastern suburbs of Rome.
In 2019, after lengthy restoration and fitting-out works and thanks to the fruitful collaboration between the Soprintendenza Speciale Archeologia, Belle Arti e Paesaggio of Rome and the Pontificia Commissione di Archeologia Sacra, the Mausoleum was finally reopened to the public, with the simultaneous inauguration of an Antiquarium, set up inside it, to complete a tour that had already included, since 2014, the underlying catacombs of Ss. Marcellino and Pietro, which boast one of the richest expressions of early Christian painting that has come down to us.
Tra il 315 e il 326 d.C., inaugurando la progressiva e programmatica cristianizzazione del suburbio, Costantino fece erigere una basilica funeraria a deambulatorio continuo, dedicata ai martiri Marcellino e Pietro, sopra la catacomba che ne custodiva i resti al III miglio dell’antica via Labicana (attuale Casilina), nella località ad (o inter) duas lauros, all’interno del possedimento imperiale noto come fundus Laurentus (o Lauretum) e già luogo di sepolcreti lungo l’antica consolare.
Connected to the basilica – via a rectangular atrium – was a large dynastic mausoleum, in which, around 329 A.D., the emperor had his mother Helena buried, inside a large red porphyry sarcophagus (now preserved in the Vatican Museums in the Pio Clementino Museum).
The mausoleum was built in opus latericium (internal diameter 20.18 m, external diameter 27.74 m, preserved height 25.42 m), with a cylindrical base surmounted by a high drum and originally covered by a dome; the collapse of part of the vault has left two rows of Dressel 20 betic olive oil amphorae, also known as pignatte (hence the name of the modern district), inserted in the concrete mix perhaps to lighten its weight or facilitate solidification.
In the Middle Ages, after the transfer of Helena’s body to St. Mary in Aracoeli (under Pope Innocent II,1130-1143), and of the sarcophagus in the Lateran portico for the burial of Pope Anastasius IV (1153-1154), the long decline of the structure began, subject over the centuries to repeated spoliation of the rich interior decorations and a progressive degradation, which not even some interventions by Giuseppe Valadier in 1836 were able to tackle.
Starting in 1993, therefore, the then Soprintendenza Speciale Archeologia, Belle Arti e Paesaggio of Rome launched an extensive programme of excavation, recovery, restoration and valorisation of the mausoleum and the surrounding area, at the same time drawing up an important agreement with the Pontificia Commissione di Archeologia Sacra (renewed in May 2019) for the rehabilitation activities, the setting up of an Antiquarium – inside the small church and rectory built in the modern age on the perimeter of the rotunda – and the management of the entire complex.
The work, carried out by a multidisciplinary team of experts (museum project and restoration: Maria Grazia Filetici, Elio Paparatti; conservation and archaeological direction: Laura Vendittelli, Anna Buccellato; scientific direction for the Pontificia Commissione di Archeologia Sacra: Fabrizio Bisconti, Raffaella Giuliani), aimed at restoring the structural and conservative safety of the ancient apparatus, making the monument’s transformations over the centuries perceptible.
The military subject of the sarcophagus suggests that it was intended for a male member of the imperial family, probably Constantine.
The Antiquarium
The Antiquarium has been arranged according to four main themes for the narration of the territorial context of the complex.
Room I is dedicated to finds – mainly epigraphs – from the locality ad o inter duas lauros and from the burial grounds present at the 3rd mile of the Via Labicana as early as the 1st century BC.
Room II illustrates the construction and decorative methods of the mausoleum, displaying fragments of the interior and exterior decorations, a Dressel 20 amphora originally placed in the kidneys of the vault, and a head-portrait attributable to the iconography of Helena, found in the catacombs below.
Room III is entirely dedicated to the catacombs of Sts. Marcellino and Pietro, with an illustration of the symbols of early Christian art and death rites in the Christian context, a description of the important interventions of Pope Damaso (366-384 A.D.) on the tombs of the martyrs, and the display of some everyday objects and marble slabs related to the burial niches.
Finally, on the First Floor, ceramic materials dating from the 12th to the 18th century testify to the frequentation of the complex between the Middle Ages and the Modern Age.
We would like to thank Dr. Rocco Bochicchio and arch. Alessandro Mascherucci for the texts
Il quartiere Tor Pignattara prende il nome dalle anfore olearie Dressel 20, dette anche pignatte, inserite nella cupola forse per alleggerirne il peso o agevolarne la solidificazione.
Sguardi di storia
The story of Helena, mother of Emperor Constantine, who was awarded the title of Augusta and later became a saint.
Reservations
A guided tour of the catacombs and mausoleum museum can be booked.
Tours are independent, with access to the catacombs only under the close supervision of a guide.
Admission to St. Helena’s mausoleum museum is free.