Santa Prassede: The Garden of Paradise
Why is it significant?
Look for a modest side door on a narrow street. No façade, no steps, no sign of anything special. Go in, let your eyes adjust... and then walk to the small chapel on the right side of the nave. Put a coin in the light box if there is one, and step inside a jewel box of gold.
Key Facts
| Place | Santa Prassede: The Garden of Paradise |
|---|---|
| Address | Via di Santa Prassede 9a, 00185 Roma RM, Italy |
| Geo Coordinates | 41.89620, 12.49820 |
| Part of Walk | Emperors, Saints and Alchemists: Monti & the Esquiline Hill |
| Generated | Generated |
Look for a modest side door on a narrow street. No façade, no steps, no sign of anything special. Go in, let your eyes adjust... and then walk to the small chapel on the right side of the nave. Put a coin in the light box if there is one, and step inside a jewel box of gold.
This is the Chapel of Saint Zeno, built in the early ninth century by Pope Paschal the First as a tomb for his mother, Theodora. Every surface is covered in mosaic: saints, angels holding up Christ in a medallion, the Virgin, gold everywhere. Medieval Romans called it the Garden of Paradise. It is the most important Byzantine mosaic ensemble in Rome, and most visitors walk right past the door.
Look for a woman with a square blue halo. A square halo meant the person was still alive when the image was made. Next to her is the inscription Theodora Episcopa. Episcopa is the feminine of bishop. Historians debate exactly what the title meant, most likely an honour for the pope's mother, but it has made this mosaic famous far beyond Rome.
In a niche of the chapel stands a short stump of dark stone. It was brought from Jerusalem in 1223 by a cardinal returning from the Crusades and is venerated as the column at which Christ was scourged. And in the nave, a round slab of porphyry marks a well. Legend says Saint Praxedes, the daughter of a Roman senator, soaked up the blood of martyrs with a sponge and squeezed it into this well, so that it would not be lost.
Paschal the First was a ruthless man, accused of having enemies blinded and beheaded, and yet he left Rome some of its most beautiful art. The apse mosaics still glitter exactly as he saw them twelve hundred years ago. Leave by the same door, turn the corner, and you will find yourself in front of one of the four great papal basilicas.