The hypogeum of Santa Maria in Stelle: three thousand years of history between early Christian frescoes and Roman mysteries
There are places that surprise you not for what they show on the surface, but for what they hide beneath. The hypogeum of Santa Maria in Stelle is one of these: an underground structure of Roman age, set within the hamlet of the same name at the start of the Valpantena, in the municipality of Verona, which manages to compress centuries of history, art and spirituality into just a few rooms.
Also known as the Pantheon of Santa Maria in Stelle, this archaeological site is not exactly around the corner from the historic centre, but it is well worth every kilometre of the journey. On the contrary, its secluded location helps to make it even more special: a place that you have to earn, and which stays in the memory of those who visit it.
The history
The story of this place takes root in the 3rd century AD, when a Roman noble named Publio Pomponio Corneliano had the underground structure built together with his wife and children. His name is still legible in an inscription on the architrave of the original entrance, and his figure is probably the one represented in a statue placed in a niche inside. The original purpose of the hypogeum is not entirely certain: it may have been conceived as a cenotaph of the Pomponia family, that is, a funerary monument, but the presence of a spring that flows naturally inside the space has prompted other hypotheses too. Some believe it could have been an aqueduct, others a nymphaeum — a place dedicated to the cult of the nymphs, deities to whom Corneliano was devoted.
Whatever its original function, in the course of the 4th century the hypogeum changed its purpose radically. First a Christian funerary monument, then, at the beginning of the 5th century, a true chapel open to worship. It was in this period that the decorations were created which still today make the site so extraordinary: mosaic floors and cycles of frescoes that make this underground space one of the most significant examples of early Christian art in all of northern Italy.
The structure
The structure starts from a semicircular basin carved into the rock, where the waters of the underground spring settle before being channelled into a long vaulted corridor of about a hundred metres, broken up by four wells. Going down some fifteen steps, you find yourself in a small cross-shaped atrium that gives access to two large apsed rooms, covered by half-domes with circular openings in the centre.
It is here that the best is concentrated. In the left-hand chamber the frescoes are almost entirely preserved: scenes from the Old and New Testaments alternate along the walls, separated by false pilasters and framed by horizontal red bands. The prevailing interpretation is that this room was a space of catechesis, dedicated to preparation for baptism. Particularly striking is the decoration of the half-dome, where a series of concentric cylinders in different colours perhaps recalls the scrolls of the Sacred Scriptures, or imitates the construction technique of terracotta tubes. The mosaic floor of this room is also substantially intact, with its dark red geometric motifs on a white background and the plant decorations framing the rectangular and semicircular panels.
In the right-hand chamber, on the other hand, a depiction of the Manus Dei, the Hand of God, is preserved, datable between the 8th and 9th centuries — testimony to the continuity of use of the site during the Middle Ages. And on the vault of the left-hand space stands out a Virgin and Child between two angels, against a starry sky which, according to tradition, gave the chapel and the hamlet itself their name.
The restoration
The site has been the subject of a long and careful restoration, carried out between 2016 and 2019, to counter the damage caused by the high humidity of the internal microclimate. At the end of the works, in 2020, a new lighting system was installed, designed to turn the visit into an immersive experience: the guide, through an app, gradually lights up one area at a time, accompanying visitors through the history of the place as if they were leafing through a book of stone and colour.
If you are in Verona and you want to discover something truly unusual, off the beaten track, the hypogeum of Santa Maria in Stelle is a small great wonder waiting for you underground!