Outside the town on a road branching off from the Via Flaminia road to Rome, a narrow tree-lined cobbled street leads up to the elegant Basilica of St Valentino. On this site, which was once a paleo-Christian cemetery, the most well-known saint, celebrated also in non-Christian countries, was buried in the 3rd century. St Valentine’s Day is the most romantic holiday in the world, and the story of the martyred saint is, in its tragedy, just as romantic.
Valentino, the bishop of Terni known for his superb character, was once called to Rome by the father of a rich family because his seriously ill son was near death. The bishop miraculously cured the young man, who converted to Christianity in gratitude. Word of the miracle healing soon spread along with the bishop’s fame, who in his evangelical mission was also able to convert some young scholars. Their names were Procolo, Efebio, Apollonio, and Abondio, and they soon became faithful disciples of Bishop Valentino, following him until his death. He met a cruel death, which was not uncommon for Christians in those times, especially those who dedicated their lives to spreading Christianity in the pagan empire. So Furius Placidus, the chief magistrate in Rome, ordered Valentino to be beheaded. On his return to Terni, Valentino was captured by some Roman centurions, and there was no escape. But why is Valentino the patron saint of lovers? It is said that before Valentino was arrested, he had officiated at a particular ceremony – the marriage between a Christian and a pagan, which was strongly forbidden by law and by the Church. But the bride Serapia was gravely ill. The young groom Sabino begged the bishop to intercede with Christ so he would to be joined to his bride even after death. Sabino converted and Valentino, impressed by such overwhelming love, blessed the couple’s union. Serapia died a few mintes later, overcome by her disease, but their love had been blessed for eternity.
The church was built over the oratory that was probably built in Valentino’s memory; but since it was on a frequently used communication route and beyond the protection of the city walls, it was destroyed and rebuilt many times. The church you see today is from the 1600s and was erected when Pope Paul V ordered to look for and exhume the saint’s remains.
Plaster statues of Valentino and his four disciples stand in niches on the façade, watching us and inviting us to enter. Inside, the church has a single aisle with lateral chapels containing exquisite paintings by Luca de la Haye and a splendid depiction of the archangel saint Michael by Cavalier D’Arpino, born Giuseppe Cesari, Caravaggio’s teacher. St Valentine’s remains are in an urn kept under the altar. You can visit the crypt by using the stairs to the left of the altar, where the remains of the Terni bishop’s faithful disciples are kept. Next to the crypt is a small museum with several items found during excavations carried out for the construction of the basilica.
A rather unusual tomb was found during archeological digs in an area nearby called the necropolis delle acciaierie (an early cemetery). Contrary to custom, a double tomb was found – it contained two skeletons; among the items in the tomb were two entwined bracelets. Popular imagination holds that the bodies were those of Serapia and Sabino, the bracelets symbolizing their love. Recently, that hypothesis has been proved wrong by studies done by archeologists and anthropologists, who identified the bodies as those of two children –probably two little girls – who lived 800 years before Valentino. The tomb is displayed today in the archeological section of the CAOS museum (a museum and cultural center set up in the abandoned SIRI chemical factory) and it is evocative and absolutely worth your time to visit it.