Rome is a holy city, as the seat of the pontificate and the place on earth that determines the universality of the Catholic Church. For this reason it is absolutely no wonder that many Roman churches, even suburban parishes, have relics within them, officially recognized by the Holy See. As a local tour guide it is my duty to underline the importance, from a religious point of view, of a relic which, more often than not, in the past guaranteed a greater status to a church compared to another which has none inside. And obviously there are also very particular relics...

Certainly among the most curious relics in all of Rome we find this silver urn, preserved in the Basilica of San Giovanni dei Fiorentini, containing some bones from the foot of Mary Magdalene. Why is this part of her body especially particularly venerated? Because according to the New Testament it was she, Mary Magdalene, the first to enter the tomb of Christ, taking her first steps with that very foot. A powerful symbol of redemption like Magdalene, mistakenly considered a prostitute when, from the Holy Scriptures, it is clear that she was a sinner (without going into detail), who had the opportunity, she was the first, to verify with her own eyes the meaning of Salvation, the Resurrection of Christ. We read, for example, from the Gospel according to Mark, how Magdalene and another woman, “When they entered the tomb, they saw a young man, sitting on the right, dressed in a white robe, and they were afraid. But he said to them: «Do not be afraid! You are looking for Jesus of Nazareth, the crucified. He has risen, he is not here." She physically entered there, according to this testimony. So, having understood why owning parts of Magdalene's foot is important for a church, let's now look at another, fundamental, question. How did these small bones, now preserved in a wonderful reliquary, arrive in Rome? According to an ancient tradition, Mary Magdalene spent her last days of life in Ephesus, one of the most important cities of the ancient world. A large human community with a long polytheistic tradition (we remember the Temple of Diana in Ephesus, one of the seven wonders of the ancient world) which was then completely christianized. The house where Magdalene died was made sacred and then transformed into a sanctuary. Only in 886 did the Byzantine emperor Leo VI the Philosopher move the mortal remains of Mary Magdalene to Constantinople. Later the body was donated to a King of France who, on his long return journey between Constantinople and his court, passed through Rome. It was here that he decided to leave a piece of the body, a foot, as a tribute to the pontiff. A small reliquary was specially built and housed in a chapel, built near Ponte Sant'Angelo. A very symbolic place, since it would have been the last relic visible by the pilgrims before reaching the St. Peter's Basilica and his tomb, which was precisely that bridge they crossed as the last stretch before the great basilica. Over the centuries, trace of Magdalene's foot was lost, as we no longer have much information about it.

Obviously it is impossible to know how things really went, since we have to refer to traditions, stories or even real fantasies that have mixed together over the centuries to then compose a story that is still completely incomplete today. The fact remains, however, that the Basilica of San Giovanni dei Fiorentini here in Rome hosts something which, for the devotion of many, has a grandiose meaning. What remains, above all, is the elegant silver reliquary that houses the relic, as you see it today, it is the work of Benvenuto Cellini (we are therefore in the sixteenth century). It was only rediscovered in the 2000s (incredible right?) and placed in this basilica only in 2012! Sometimes even relics have a new, and modern, life...