Dig This

Our hosts today at San Crisogono were the Trinitarians, whose emblem is shown at left. Founded to free slaves captured by the Turks, their full name is Order of the Most Holy Trinity for the Ransom of Captives. Saint Chrysogonus, named in the First Eucharistic Prayer, ended as a captive--that generally being your state as a martyr right before you go from being captured to dead. Not much is known about him, with the possibility being mentioned that he was killed in Northern Italy around 304.

The year, not the time of day.



The beautiful church in the Trastevere district has extensive ruins beneath the present day structure, which makes it exactly identical to every single other building in Rome, except that these remains are extensively excavated.











Not the underground ruins.




Being extensively excavated, they also seem to be generally closed, except for cool days like today, when the door to the crypt was opened and we could wander extensively.










Frescoes from the original church.





The extensive excavations are in some part large because the original structure was quite extensive. It may have been the original house of Chrysogonus, who as a military officer would have had money to sink into a larger home ('sink', underground now, get it? San Chrosogono himself must be laughing at that one).



















Here you see a saint curing someone with a skin ailment--or a bad case of the spots.





Also underground were cool things like tombs:










Note the winged lion to the right.




a.k.a. sarcophogi















And skulls.





























I don't know if I mentioned how extensive the subterranean passages were. Here is a photo of a portion of the extensive dig.