ABSTRACT
The Roman church of San Lorenzo fuori le mura, the shrine of the third-century deacon and martyr Lawrence, is situated on the via Tiburtina, approximately one kilometre outside the circuit of the Aurelian walls, to which it was joined in the Middle Ages by a covered portico leading from the Porta Tiburtina. Consequently, this gate became known from at least the eighth century as the Porta San Lorenzo. The present church comprises two principal parts, both medieval. The area of the raised sanctuary is formed by the original sixth-century basilica ad corpus, constructed by Pope Pelagius II (579-90) using a wide variety of spolia, and intended to create an appropriate setting for the site of Lawrence’s tomb. Pelagius’ foundation is documented in the Liber pontificalis, and the original dedication inscription is recorded in early medieval syllogae. The pope also appears in the mosaic decoration of the triumphal arch, now heavily restored, where he offers a model of the church to Christ in an iconography reminiscent of the apse of San vitale at Ravenna. The second part of the structure was constructed about seven hundred years later. In the early thirteenth century, either in the first years of his papacy or immediately prior, Honorius III (1216-27) demolished what remained of the west side of the Pelagian basilica, including the apse, and constructed a long nave with a new portico facing the via Tiburtina, thus reversing the orientation of the church.1 The site is immediately adjacent to a large cemetery, the Campo verano, still in use today – and since the mid-nineteenth century it has also been very close to the tracks approaching Rome’s principal train station, Stazione Termini. On 16 July 1943, a stray bomb, presumably intended for the railyard, hit the church, badly damaging the façade and nave of Honorius’ addition – and this necessitated a significant campaign of repairs in the post-war years. Included in this campaign was some new archaeology, aimed at discovering the foundations of the original apse of the sixth-century Pelagian church.
