Santa Costanza, Rome

Aerial view of the mausoleum and funerary hall. Photo: Santagnese.org.
See our Santa Costanza Photo Tour for many more views.

Exterior of Santa Costanza. Photo courtesy of Santagnese.org.

Helpful pointer to Santa Costanza at the nearby Sant'Agnese.

View of the central altar from the ambulatory.

The ambulatory of the Mausoleum of Santa Costanza.

Fourth-century ceiling mosaics in the ambulatory of Santa Costanza.

The 5th- or 7th-century Traditio Clavium mosaic.

The 5th- or 7th-century Traditio Legis mosaic.

Replica of St. Helena's sarcophagus in Santa Costanza.

General interior view.

View from the entrance to the central altar.

Santa Costanza is an imperial mausoleum in Rome that was later dedicated as a church (in Italian it is known both as Mausoleo di Santa Costanza and Chiesa di Santa Costanza). This fascinating and beautiful building dates from the 4th century AD and features some of the earliest surviving Christian art.

History

The Mausoleum of Santa Costanza is named for Constantine the Great's daughter Constantia (also known as Constantina or Costanza), who died in 354 AD.

Early accounts (such as the Liber Pontificalis) record that Constantia requested a funerary hall be built here on the imperial estate, and Constantine did so (this is the building now in ruins next to the mausoleum). The funerary hall resembled others built by Constantine and was dedicated to the virgin martyr St. Agnes.

Floor plan of Santa Constanza, the triconch structure and the adjacent funerary hall. Click to enlarge.

These early accounts also report that Constantine built a baptistery here, in which Constantia and the emperor's sister Helena were baptized by Pope Sylvester. For a time it was believed that the mausoleum is this baptistery, but excavations under the mausoleum in 1992 revealed a triconch (clover-shaped) building that is probably the baptistery.

Scholars think construction on the funerary hall and triconch baptistery would have begun between 326 (Constantine's last visit to Rome) and 329-330 (the death of Constantine's sister).

After Constantia died in 354, her body was brought back from Bithynia to be buried on the imperial estate in Rome (Ammianus, History 14.11.6). It was long assumed she was buried in the mausoleum, but it is now thought that the building was probably still unfinished at that time. She was probably buried either in the triconch building or in the apse of the now-ruined funerary hall.

The round mausoleum that we can visit today was probably built in the 360s or 370s. Despite its name, the mausoleum of Santa Costanza was probably built especially for Constantine's younger sister Helena, who was married to the emperor Julian "the Apostate" (ruled 361-63).

As the daughter, sister and wife of three separate emperors (Constantius, Constantine, Julian), Helena had considerable status and it makes sense that she would receive a burial place of great splendor. The mausoleum's columns were reused from Roman structures and its mosaics (many still intact) reflect both pagan and Christian imagery.

Helena is known to have died in 360 or 361 in Gaul and, like Constantia, her body was brought to the imperial estate here in Rome for burial. Helena was buried in the mausoleum and Constantia's body was transferred from its original resting place to the new mausoleum.

Pope Nicholas I celebrated Mass in the mausoleum in 865, when the building was first called Santa Costanza. The mausoleum was consecrated as a church in the 13th century. Pope Alessandro IV took what were believed to be Constantia's remains from the main sarcophagus, placed them beneath a central altar, and consecrated the building in her honor on March 12, 1256.

The Mausoleo di Santa Costanza has been periodically restored over the years, but it remains primarily a 4th-century structure. One major restoration took place in 1620 under Cardinal Veralli, during which the mosaics in the dome were destroyed.

In 1992, excavations were carried out beneath the atrium, revealing new information about its early history (as outlined above).

What to See

The 4th-century mausoleum of St. Costanza is a round building, with a small piazza out front. The building originally had a forceps-shaped atrium at its entrance and an external colonnaded ambulatory (traces of which can be seen in the piazza).

Inside, there is a simple altar under a central dome. The central area is surrounded by 12 pairs of Roman columns, which form a barrel-vaulted ambulatory around the outside.

Originally, the walls were covered in marble and the dome was covered in mosaics. The dome mosaics, now destroyed, are known from 16th- and 17th-century paintings: they depicted New Testament scenes behind a golden screen of Bacchic imagery beyond the river Styx. A 16th-century antiquarian also reported seeing mosaics of two seated saintly women, which supports the theory that this mausoleum housed the bodies of both Constantia and Helena. Today, the dome contains faded 17th- and 18th-century paintings.

The main highlight of Santa Costanza is the barrel vaulting of the ambulatory, which is covered in original 4th-century mosaics. As in the original dome mosaics, these display a fascinating mix of pagan and Christian symbolism and imagery. According to the scholar G. Mackie, Santa Costanza's art reflects "the emerging iconography of the Christian faith in its first years of legitimacy in the Roman Empire." [1] The Rough Guide to Italy similarly comments that Costanza, "perhaps more than any other building in Rome illustrates the transition from the pagan to Christian city in its decorative and architectural features."

The ambulatory mosaics were designed in corresponding pairs leading towards the niche with the sarcophagus, where the flanking mosaic pair is the most elaborate. The pair by the entrance are a simple, geometric design; this is following by a pair with a circular motif with animals and figures. Next are scenes of grape harvesting, then roundels with a leaf design, busts and figures. The pair by the sarcophagus have branches, amphorae and peacocks. The imagery is capable of both pagan and Christian interpretation, which is representative of Constantine's religious policy.

Directly opposite the entrance to the mausoleum is a niche containing a large purple-hued sarcophagus, decorated with reliefs of putti harvesting grapes (a common theme in classical art). This is a replica of the grand porphyry original that is now in the Vatican Museums, moved there c.1785 (our Santa Costanza photo tour includes views of the original). It was probably built by the pagan emperor Julian for his wife Helena. Constantia's sarcophagus is believed to be the tub-shaped porphyry sarcophagus now in the left transept of St. Peter's Basilica, moved there in 1606.

In the niche above are the remains of a mosaic with black stars on a white ground and traces of a gold Chi-Rho. In two of the larger side niches are mosaics dating from either the 5th or the 7th century. They have been poorly restored, but their richly decorated border reveal the quality of the originals. The first, to the left from the entrance, depicts the Traditio Clavium, in which Christ hands over the keys to the kingdom of Heaven to St. Peter (Matthew 16:9). The buildings represent Jerusalem.

The other, on the right from the entrance, is of the Traditio Legis, in which St. Peter receives the right to govern on earth, symbolized by God handing Peter a Scroll of the Law, which reads DOMINVS PACEM DAT, "The Lord gives peace through his rule." The buildings in this mosaic represent Bethlehem. The date and interpretation of these two mosaics have been the subject of much scholarly debate.

The funerary hall (c. 330) now lies in ruins in a garden adjacent to the mausoleum, which it is fenced and not possible to enter. However, descending the hill to Piazza Annibaliano provides a clear view of the west end, where the outer wall survives to its full height.

It is similar in layout to the other funerary halls built by Constantine in Rome, such as St. Peter's, San Sebastiano and San Lorenzo. This one was dedicated to St. Agnes (who is honored in a nearby church) and was about 120 meters long. In the chancel area are the remains of an apse area, where Constantia may have originally been buried.

Quick Facts

Names:	Mausoleo di Santa Costanza; Chiesa di Santa Costanza
Location:	Via Nomentana to Via di Sant'Agnese, NE Rome, Italy
Hours:	Mon 9-12; Tues-Sat: 9-12, 4-6; Sun: 4-6pm
Cost:	Free
Best light:	afternoon
Note:	Santa Costanza is frequently used for weddings.
Get there:	Bus #36 from Termini or #60 from Piazza Venezia

Location Map

Below is a location map and aerial view of Santa Costanza. Using the buttons on the left, zoom in for a closer look or zoom out to get your bearings. Click and drag the map to move around. For a larger view, see our Rome Map or get our free Google Earth download.

Sources

Personal visit (July 2006).
Matilda Webb, The Churches and Catacombs of Early Christian Rome: A Comprehensive Guide (Sussex Academic Press, 2001).
Rough Guide to Italy, 7th edition (2005), 761-62.
G. Mackie, "A new look at the patronage of Santa Costanza, Rome," Byzantion 67 (1997): 383-406.

More Information

Santa Costanza - Great Buildings Online
W.H.C. Frend, The Rise of Christianity (London, 1984).
Robert Adam, Classical Architecture (London: Penguin Books, 1990).

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