Saint John at the Latin Gate

San Giovanni a Porta Latina—“Saint John before the Latin Gate”—keeps a very specific story tied to Rome’s old Aurelian Walls. The tradition links this spot near the Porta Latina on the Via Latina to an ordeal from 92: St John the Evangelist, said (by Tertullian as quoted by Saint Jerome) to have survived being immersed in boiling oil under Emperor Domitian. He was then traditionally exiled to Patmos, and the episode was celebrated in the Roman Martyrology, a calendar that began in the 7th century. The basilica you’re visiting is traditionally dated to the pontificate of Pope Gelasius I (492–496). There’s even a material clue: the oldest roof tiles bear a taxation stamp connected to Theodoric the Great, who reigned from 493 to 526—one of those ancient tiles now serves as a lectern inside. …

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