San Sabino (12th century)

This church stands on the site of an early Christian cemetery.The sarcophagus (late 4th century) of of Lucius Baebius Sabinus, which was found here, is now in Room 1 of the Museo del Ducato di Spoleto.

There seems to have been a church that contained the relics of St Sabinus from at least the late 6th century.  Paul the Deacon made two references to it in his "History of the Lombards":

• In 591, when Ariulf, Duke of Spoleto went into " the church of the blessed martyr, the bishop Sabinus, in which his venerable body reposes" because he had been told that Christian soldiers "were wont to invoke [St Sabinus] to their aid as often as they went to war". He recognised an image of St Sabinus as a portrait of a man who had protected him during his battle against the Byzantines at Camerino in 598. (Book 4, chapter 16)

• Early in the 8th century, the Lombard King Aribert exiled Peter, the father of the future King Liutprand  to Spoleto.  As Peter prayed in "the church of the blessed martyr Sabinus", the saint appeared to him and told him that he would become Bishop of Pavia.  When Liutprand came to the throne in 712, Peter duly became Bishop of Pavia and built a church dedicated to St Sabinus in his diocese.

The present church on the site dates to the 12th century but it was re-modeled in Baroque style in 1623 and largely rebuilt after the earthquake of 1768.

The nave and two aisles were rebuilt on the original foundations and original apse and apsidal chapels survive.

Crypt

The crypt below the presbytery contains material from Roman and early medieval structures. 

[A reliquary of St Sabinus is housed in a niche behind the altar.]

Return to Walk III.