Drains and Dragons

San Georgio in Velabro commemorates the well known dragon slayer of Cappadocia; the other patron for this church is the martyr Saint Sebastian, the Roman military officer who, after being martyred under Diocletian, was thrown into the cloaca maxima of the city—the main sewer.  A draining experience I’m sure.

The church (titular church of the soon-to-be beatified John Henry Newman when he became cardinal in 1879) was quiet prior to the liturgy; by the beginning of Mass the congregation had long spilled over the remaining seats.

I’ve successfully managed to conceal Saint George on horseback in this photo.  Saint Sebastian can be seen holding his shield off to the right with Saint Peter.

The blue skies of this post-Mass photo belie the pouring rain which accompanied our predawn arrival.

Built on the Velabrum, the swampy marsh which reputedly caught the Tiber-borne infants Romulus and Remus when their basket was snagged in the roots of a fig tree, the church shares the site with the Arch of Janus, a triumphal arch actually dedicated to Constantine (or his son Constantius II).  Its multi-directional arches make it the only ‘quadrifrons’ triumphal arch in Rome, which is what you say when you want to sound educated.