Basilica of Sant’Agnese fuori le Mura historical timeline

A girl buried in a catacomb, a basilica raised over her by an emperor’s daughter in 324, rebuilt by a seventh-century pope who had himself put in the mosaic.

Chronology

1. Early 4th century — the remains of the martyr Agnes lie in an underground cemetery on the Via Nomentana.
2. 324 — the Basilica of Sant’Agnese fuori le Mura is built at the wish of Costanza, daughter of the Emperor Constantine, above the ruins of a cemetery and of the catacombs which held the remains of the Saint.
3. Early 4th century — Costantina, or Costanza, also erects the Mausoleum of Santa Costanza close against the great cemeterial basilica she had built at that cemetery, an example of the integration between mausoleum and basilica in the Constantinian age.
4. 7th century — the basilica is rebuilt on the commission of Pope Honorius I, and the apse mosaic is made, portraying Saint Agnes as an Eastern empress flanked by the popes Symmachus and Honorius I.
5. Later centuries — the church is restored several times, remaining one of the most intact and distinguished examples of an ancient Christian basilica.
6. Late 15th / early 16th century — the Renaissance portal is set in the facade, bearing the oak of the future Pope Julius II.
7. 1590 — the wide marble staircase descending to the narthex is built.
8. 1870 — the Breccia di Porta Pia; the cippus dedicated to its victims is preserved just outside the complex.

• Official website
• Wikipedia