Mosaic
- St. Clemente Basilica, Rome, Italy.
Note: This basilica is located near the Coliseum (Coloseum) and the site of gladiator barracks. The basilica stands on what
originally was a Christian house of worship in the 1st century A.D. In the courtyard of the house
stood a Mithraic altar. Mithraism, in ancient Rome, was favored by emperors Commodus and Diocletian.
St. Clement was a contemporary of Peter and Paul (perhaps) and he was banished to Crimea where he was martyred
by orders of emperor Trajan (98-117A.D.). Some say that his relics were rescued by St. Cyril and brought back
to Rome. This current basilica is among the oldest and stands on a basilica built
in the 4th century by emperor Constatine. Another basilica arose following the devastation of Rome by the Normans under Robert
Guiscard in 1084.
Today, the basilica of St. Clement holds the tomb of St. Cyril as well as the remains of a Mithraic temple.
The beloved Pisan pope
John XXIII visited this basilica to pay homage to "Cyrillo et Methodio" who were the monks that created the Cyrillic alphabet to bring
the Slavic people to Christianity.
