Rome - December 28, 2011 - Santa Anastasia & Arch of Janus

Santa Anastasia

We serendipitously came upon the church of Santa Anastasia (who just wouldn’t die; first they tried to starve her in prison, then they tried to starve her again, then she was stuck on a boat and her persecutors scuttled it, still she survived and so they did the most logical thing and set fire to her in a public place…at least that is one St. Anastasia there is another who was martyred, by beheading, in Rome with St. Cyril in the third century, there is another that was supposed to be the lady in waiting to Empress Theodora in the 6th Century. This one is the most interesting of our collection of Anastasias as she eventually took to dressing like a monk and became a hermit (only men were allowed to be hermits, women who lived alone were burned for being witches) and is recognized as a transgender saint, which is pretty cool) while trying to see if we could get closer to the Arch of Janus. While this may be possible at some times, there was a large contingent of police and firemen about the area. So after trying a few streets to no avail we returned to the Via della Bocca della Verita and took a photo from as close as I could get. Why do I feel like Beauregard Jackson Pickett Burnside?

This church is so plain and uniform compared to the riotous facades (products of bent minds and perhaps bent tools) that seemed to abound in the 17th century. I like the little bell towers they remind me of a church in Malta.

The Arch of Janus: named for the God with two faces. It stands across a crossroads and was dedicated in the 4th Century CE. It is believed that it was originally dedicated to Constantine and that it had a pyramidal roof. Each of the niches once held a statue. Now forlorn and alone wedged between a few buildings off the Via San Giovanni Decollato. After 1600 years it sort of looks like a giant dovecote.  I keep wanting to look for huge soiled pigeons to come soaring out of smothering the land with giant pigeon poops.

Arch of Janus, and parking lot.