Basilica di Santa Croce in Gerusalemme

The Basilica of the Holy Cross in Jerusalem, one of the seven pilgrimage churches, was constructed in the early fourth century to hold the enormous collection of holy relics that St. Helena, the mother of Constantine, had brought to Rome from Jerusalem.

The interior is divided into three parts with twelve colossal ancient granite columns, four of which were incorporated into pillars in the 18th-century renovation. At the center of the apse, decorated in the half-basin with paintings attributed to Antoniazzo Romano, is the magnificent Tomb of Cardinal Francesco Quiñones by Jacopo Sansovino. Artifacts from the Crucifixion, including portions of the True Cross, the Grotto of the Nativity, and other holy relics, can be found in the relic chapel. These have been displayed in a chapel built specifically for their protection and display since the 1030s, maintained in 19th-century reliquaries. After being rebuilt in the 18th century, the church from the fourth century has little to show for it, but the later Baroque church still contains the original granite columns.