Considerazioni sullo stato degli studi delle chiese suburbane di Roma

The study of the suburban churches in Rome - about 60 in the 7^thcent. - can furnish important data, not only about history of Christianity, liturgy, hagiography and Christian architecture, but also for the reconstruction of the Late Antique and Early medieval settlement in the territory extra urbem. A new corpus of the buildings, adjourning the work of Krautheimer according to the CARE criteria, would therefore result essential. Suburban churches developed in particular a very important role within the phenomenon of the pilgrimage. Especially in the 7^thcent., these sites became privileged aims of the devotees that came to Rome even from the most remote regions, to visit the graves of apostles and martyrs. For these devotees “guides” were written; their reception and their stay were guaranteed by a series of infrastructures. In that century of crisis, that saw the passage from antiquity to the Middle Ages, the pilgrimage did actually feed the “asphyxiated” economy of the city.