Key to Umbria: Spoleto
 


San Lorenzo (12th century)


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This church outside Terzo la Pieve stands on the site of one of the earliest churches near Spoleto.  Its erstwhile importance is demonstrated by the fact that a city gate that is recorded in the statutes of Spoleto in 1296 as Porta San Lorenzo was so-named because the road there led to Terzo la Pieve.  The church was effectively rebuilt in 1910 and is now in restoration (January 2009).

An inscription (4th century AD) from this church, which is now in the Museo Diocesano, recorded that Bishop Spes discovered the relics of St Vitalis here and translated them to a new altar that he dedicated to the saint. 

Bishop Paolo Sanvitale translated the relics and the inscription to the Duomo in 1597:

  1. ✴The inscription was broken, probably during its translation.  The complete text is known from a transcription contained in a letter written by Bishop Sanvitale. [CIL XI 4966]

  2. ✴A relic of the tibia of St Vitalis, which is contained in a reliquary (1597) commissioned by Bishop Sanvitale, is now in the Cappella delle Reliquie, Duomo.


For the historical background on Bishop Spes and his discovery of the relics of

St Vitalis, see the page on Early Christianity in Spoleto.


Return to Monuments of Spoleto.


Return to Walk II (for Porta San Lorenzo).


Return to the page on drives around Spoleto.