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The Church of St Gratilianus in Bassano Romano: Where a Fleeing Relic Decided to Stay
The Church of San Gratiliano is located on Via San Gratiliano, about 1 kilometre from the historic centre of Bassano Romano, in the Viterbo area of Tuscia. It stands exactly at the point where — according to tradition — the relic of the patron saint stopped, having rolled out of the casket of a hermit who was transporting it from Capranica. The people of Bassano built the church between 1546 and 1561, with voluntary labour.
A 3rd-Century Martyr
Gratilianus was the son of a noble family from Falerii Novi, the ancient Roman city near Civita Castellana. Converted to Christianity by the priest Eutychius, he was beheaded in 269 AD together with the young Felicissima, whose sight — according to devotional tradition — he had restored in prison. He has been the patron saint of Bassano Romano and of the diocesan Catholic Action of Civita Castellana since 1951.
What To See Inside
The church has a single nave, wooden truss roof, semicircular apse framed by two pilasters painted with grotesques, with a curious detail: the figures of Saints Paul and Peter inserted into a decorative fabric in classical style. On the sides of the apse, a cycle of frescoes recounts the life of the saint: baptism, preaching, the trial, the miracle of Felicissima, the beheading. Behind the altar, a 1757 canvas by local painter Cristoforo Bollini depicts the saint with the palm of martyrdom and a reproduction of the city of Bassano in his hand.
