Piis Lacrimis pantheon

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Pantheon Piis Lacrimis

The Piis Lacrimis pantheon houses the church of the Santissimo Redentore (Most Holy Redeemer), designed by Giuseppe Barbieri and built by Francesco Ronzani. Above the eight entrance columns, biblical scenes are carved in bas-relief from the Garden of Eden to Mount Calvary and, on the portal, is the Monument to Giuseppe Barbieri, created by Grazioso Spazzi in 1852. In the upper part of the pantheon the inscription Piis Lacrimis indicates the purpose of a place of worship within a cemetery: to make the tears of mourners less sad. The church has a circular plan, inspired by the Pantheon of Rome, and inside is an ampoule with the blood of Christ. The relic, collected by Mary and initially guarded by the Christians of Jerusalem, passed into the hands of Saint Helena Empress who transferred her to Constantinople. When the Byzantine city was conquered by the Venetians, the ampulla was transferred to the capital of the Serenissima and, in the mid-nineteenth century, the bishop of Verona extracted some drops of blood and took them with him to the city, where the relic was subsequently donated to the Monumental Cemetery.

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