Santa Croce in Gerusalemme reopens Relics Chapel in Rome

The Chapel of the Relics of the Passion at the Basilica of Santa Croce in Gerusalemme has reopened following six months of restoration work. The reopening ceremony, held on October 23, was attended by Cardinal Baldassare Reina, Vicar General for the Diocese of Rome.

The restoration was mandated by the Ministry of Culture’s Special Superintendency to address necessary repairs to the basilica’s external roofing and the wooden structures of the chapel’s ceiling. The works aimed to ensure the safety and protection of the site’s significant artistic, architectural, and religious dimensions.

The chapel houses several highly revered items, including fragments of the True Cross held in a stauroteca created by Giuseppe Valadier, the Titulus Crucis (the wooden board traditionally identified as the inscription above Jesus), the Holy Nail, and two thorns from the Crown of Thorns. The basilica itself is historically significant, having been built on the site of the Sessorium and later transformed by Saint Helena, mother of Emperor Constantine, to house relics brought from Jerusalem.