Santa Prisca is a church dedicated to St Prisca, a 1st century martyr. Due to confusion between Prisca and Priscilla, it is also known as Santi Aquila e Prisca. This makes it easy to confuse it with Santi Aquila and Priscilla.
History
The identity of St Prisca is uncertain. One tradition claims that she is identical with Priscilla, who is mentioned in the New Testament, another that she was the daughter of Aquila and Priscilla. In the Acts of the Apostles (Acts XVIII, 1-4), it is written that St Paul stayed with Aquila and Priscilla, Jewish Christians exiled from Rome, when he was in Corinth and again in Ephesus after they had moved there. Later, they were apparently able to move back to Rome, as St Paul sends his greetings to them there (Romans 16, 3-5). The tradition claims that this was her house. This has been challenged, and Prisca may be another woman altogether. No private house has been found underneath the church - in fact, a temple to Mithras was found during excavations in 1940 and 1958. (1) It has, however, been established that Christian worship was established here at an early time, as ancient terracotta lamps with the chi-rho monogram has been found. The commonly accepted date for the church is the 4th or 5th century.
The first documentary evidence of the church is from 489, when it is mentioned in an inscription. It is also mentioned in the list from the Roman Synod of 499.
The church has been altered several times throughout the centuries, and the only clearly identifiable ancient remains are the columns and the parts that are underground.
It was damaged by the Normans under Robert Guiscard in 1084.
In 1094, Pope Urban II invited monks from Vendõme to serve the church. The Catalogue of Turin, c. 1320, mentioned that the church has black monks ("monachos nigros"), which must be a reference to the black-clad Benedictines. The order left the church in 1414.
The most comprehensive restoration took place in 1660. The ancient columns were embedded in pilasters, and a new façade was constructed.
It has been a titular church since 1588. (2) The next to last titular of the church was H.E. Alfonso Cardinal López Trujillo, who was made Cardinal Bishop of Frascati in November 2001. The present titular is Justin Francis Cardinal Rigali, who was created cardinal on 21 October 2003.
Exterior
The façade is from 1660.
Interior
The 14 internal columns, now almost covered by 17th century additions, are ancient.
In the baptistery, there is an ancient Corinthian capital allegedly used by St Peter as a font. This tradition is unlikely, since Peter would almost certainly have practised baptism by immersion and the 'font' is much too shallow for that. It has, however, been used as a baptismal font since the 13th century. An inscription, dated to that century, reads "Baptismus Sancti Petri".
Baptism is the subject of the decoration on the high altar. Prisca was supposedly baptised by St Peter the Apostle, and this event is shown in a fine 17th century painting by Domenico Cresti.
St Prisca was buried on the Aventine, and probably moved to the Catacombs of Priscilla. Pope St Euthychianus (275-283) moved the relics to this church. During the reign of Pope Leo IV (847-855) they were moved to Santi Quattro Coronati, but where soon after brought back. They are preserved in the 9th century crypt, which can be accessed from the yard (see below). The crypt is decorated with 9th or 10th century frescoes showing scenes from her life and from the life of St Peter the Apostle. Her martyrdom and burial, and the rescue of her relics are shown in frescoes by Fontebuoni from the 9th or 10th century in the apse.
Special notes
A door by the baptistery leads to a terrace overlooking a playground. You can enter the crypt and the excavations from this yard, but you need to get the sacristan to let you in. The Mithraeum has traces of 2nd or 3rd century wall paintings depicting the initiation into the Mathraeic cult.
Santa Prisca is one of the station churches of Tuesday in the Holy Week.
Notes
1: Some sources say that a private house was found in 1933, but this is not confirmed in archaeological reports. However, a house and what appears to have been an early Christian chapel were found quite close to the church during earlier excavations.
2: The church is listed as a presbyterial title in the Catalogue of Turin, meaning that it was a titular church c. 1320. It seems that the title was vacant for a period before 1588, and then resurrected.
Exterior Santa Prisca