medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
Today (7. September) is the feast day of:
Paragorius and companions (d. early 4th cent., perhaps). Paragorius,
Parthaeus, Parthenopaeus, and Severinus are said to have been Roman
soldiers martyred for their faith on Corsica. All four have been
honored at Noli (SV) in the Riviera del Ponente since at least the
eleventh century, when construction began on its present ex-cathedral
dedicated to Paragorius.
The early modern hagiographer Filippo Ferrari (d. 1626) says that
"some years ago" (_ante aliquot annos_) there existed at Noli a very old
parchment containing an antiphon in their honor with the words _Passi
sunt in insula Corsicae_ ("They were martyred on the island of
Corsica"). This has apparently not survived even in later
transcription. Also lost is a painting still visible in Ferrari's day
that showed Paragorius seated on a horse and his companions on foot;
interpreted by Ferrari to indicate that Paragorius was noble and the
others were his servitors, this tableau is doubtless related to the (not
medievally attested) local tradition that Paragorius was a senior
officer and the others were his subalterns. The fact that the first
three names are originally Greek has led to a twentieth-century
conjecture that the martyrs in question were really members of the East
Roman military stationed in Liguria in the sixth or early seventh
century who were slain by people classed locally as infidels and whose
martyrdom was later backdated once the original tradition had been lost.
But if we know virtually nothing about Paragorius et soc., we still
have their wonderful very early eleventh-century church (with later
modifications), an extramural foundation sited next to a Roman
necropolis and replacing a paleochristian predecessor remains of whose
baptistery were found during excavations in the 1970s. When Noli
(which achieved autonomy from the Del Carretto marquisate of Savona in
the late twelfth century) was elevated to diocesan status in 1239 this
church was selected as its cathedral, serving in that capacity until
1572 when it was replaced by the more centrally located San Pietro. It
was restored in the nineteenth century by the Portuguese architect
Alfredo d'Andrade.
Some exterior views are here:
http://www.archeoge.arti.beniculturali.it/archeologia/noli.htm
http://www.oltreilviaggio.it/europa/italia/liguria/noli07.htm
http://www.thais.it/architettura/romanica/schede/scm_00077.htm
A somewhat blurry view of the upper parts of the belltower and of the
nave, showing a deep narrow window, is here:
http://tinyurl.com/crrem
Note the _bacini_ (decorative dishes of Islamic manufacture) in the
roundels here:
http://tinyurl.com/8q4gg
An illustrated, Italian-language introduction to this particular sort
of decor (found in Italian trading ports from Liguria to the Gulf of
Salerno) is here:
http://tinyurl.com/akpfw
One can imagine eleventh-century Muslims thinking "These infidel
Italians are so backward that they adorn their places of worship with
our dinner plates!"
An interior view:
http://www.thais.it/architettura/romanica/schede/scm_00078.htm
Two views of the crypt:
http://www.sapere.it/mm/geografia/objects/10436366.jpg
http://tinyurl.com/9cd4w
An illustrated, Italian-language page on historic Noli is here:
http://www.rivieraligure.it/citta.php?CL=208
Best,
John Dillon
(last year's post, revised)
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