rendered perspective, Basilica Hierusalem (c. late 326)
Santa Croce, one of the "Seven Churches" of Rome, owes its origin to the Empress Helena, mother of Constantine, who in her zeal for Christianity made a pilgrimage to Jerusalem and brought back a collection of relics, including a portion of the Saviour's cross, for the purpose of forming a pilgrims' shrine for those who could not afford time and money for the journey to the Holy Land. The church she founded, was probably a hall of the Sessorian palace in which she resided; it was called Basilica Heleniana, or Sessoriana.
The primitive church was rebuilt by Pope Lucius II, in 1114, and modernized in 1743 by Gregorini, who added the baroque facade. The campanile dates from 1196.
The sacred relics preserved in the church include a part of the Cross and of its inscription, one of the nails, thorns from the crown, and the finger with which St. Thomas convinced himself of the reality of the wound in the side of Christ.
The tribune is covered with frescos representing the discovery of the Cross. The oldest part of the church is the chapel of St. Helena in the crypt (Ladies are not permitted except on the festival of the saint, March 20th), the floor of which was built upon a soil composed of earth brought from Jerusalem.
J. & M.L. Fattorusso, Rome Eternally Beautiful (Florence: Giuseppe Fattorusso,1937), p. 598.
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The notion of women not being allowed to enter the Helena Chapel (which is accessed via the door to the right of the apse) except on 20 March, the date of the chapel's dedication, comes from an inscription on the wall of the stairwell leading from the basilica to the chapel. This "rule" is today no longer regarded.
Given the nature of the relics within the chapel, which all relate to Christ's crucifixion, the original rule of the chapel may actually have been that only women and not men were allowed in the chapel on 20 March. This reasoning coincides with the Scriptural account of St. John which relates how, with the possible exception of St. John himself, only Mary the mother of Jesus, Mary the aunt of Jesus, and Mary Magdalene remained with Christ until His death.
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