Detail of St Victorinus from a
triptych (ca. 1468) by Matteo da Gualdo
Museo di San Pietro
According to a late legend (BHL 8597), St Victorinus, who came from “Assyria”, was consecrated as bishop of Assisi by Pope Fabian (236-50). He was arrested along with a number of companions outside Assisi on the road that led down to the River Tescio, during the reign of the Emperor Gordian (probably the Emperor Gordian III (238-44).
✴In the aftermath of an affray, one of the companions was beheaded and another two were thrown into a well.
✴St Victorinus was then beheaded by a bridge on the Tescio that became known as Ponte San Vittorino (see Around Assisi). The Monastero di San Vittorino was subsequently built on the site.
Relics of St Victorinus and his Companions
The relics, which were originally housed in the Monastero di San Vittorino, were translated to the Abbazia di San Pietro at an unknown date. They were preserved under its high altar until 1642, when Bishop Malatesta Baglioni arranged for their translation to a side altar. The sarcophagus was opened at this time and found to contain two wooden chests, one with the bones of the saint and another containing other bones and linen soaked in blood.
The so-called well of the two martyrs, into which the bodies of the companions of St Victorinus were thrown, is now in that part of the Abbazia di San Pietro that houses the Museo di San Pietro.