Florence may possess origins of Christian worship

Christianity may be getting a historical makeover. Having studied the Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiore, an ancient cathedral in Florence, Italy, for 40 years, Franklin Toker collected ample amounts of evidence supporting his claim that the cathedral served as the very beginnings of Christianity in the city. 

Toker, a professor in Pitt’s history of art and architecture, presented his findings on Wednesday at noon to a group of about 100 people in the auditorium of the Frick Fine Arts Building. These findings will be published in the third and fourth volumes of his book series, “The Florence Duomo Project,” in 2014 and 2016, respectively.

Toker said that there were three functions of his lecture. The first was to provide a preview of his spring seminar for students. The second was to highlight his two books that he published in 2009 and 2012. The third was to share his newest findings. 

“I’m giving Florence something it desperately sought for 1,000 years: Archaeological evidence for a Christian meeting place,” he said. 

Toker explained that because Rome had the religious power in Italy, Florence was not the center of Renaissance Italy. While dozens of cities around the country boasted of such Roman structures that had withstood many ages, Florence had no such claim. 

“Nobody’s disputing that Florence had Roman beginnings, but Florence had nothing to show for them,” Toker said. 

If any currently standing structure in Florence could be attributed to Rome, it would be the baptistery of the Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiore, Toker said. 

The Basilica has been excavated four times in the last century. Since then, archeologists have found remains of an elaborate Roman house at the site. 

Past scholars claimed that the building housed a baptismal pool, but Toker disagreed with this interpretation. 

“It was immensely too large and impossibly large and deep,” he said. “My verdict was that more Christians would have drowned than would have acquired eternal life.”

Rather than labeling the ruins as a baptismal pool, Toker said that it more accurately resembled a small baptistery, or a hall connected to the church where baptisms occurred. 

Toker questioned why previous scholars had not proposed at the home being a site for Christian worship, otherwise known as a house church. 

Toker explained that Italians in Florence were forced to practice Christianity in secret in the second and third centuries, as the religion was not yet accepted by the emperor.  

According to Toker, the baptistery appears to have been constructed in the courtyard of the house. Toker said that this would have made the pool appear decorative and could have easily fooled police. Additionally, it would be an easy place to dispose of water. 

Toker theorized that the transformation of the home into a place for Christian worship likely occurred during the third century, when first reports of early Christian life in Florence surfaced. 

The house church likely functioned as such until the emperor officially tolerated Christianity and actual churches were constructed around the city. 

Shirin Fozi, an assistant professor in Pitt’s history of art and architecture department, said that Toker’s findings served as a great example of how we can look back at archeological excavations and see things nobody had noticed before. 

“Each generation brings fresh scholarship and new insights to the table,” she said. “We know so much more about early Christian culture than we did 100 years ago, and we’re lucky to have Professor Toker bringing that knowledge to Florence, and to one of the most significant cathedrals in European history.”

Morgan Austin, a freshman engineering major, agreed that Toker’s insights were remarkable. 

“It was interesting that he discovered the baptistery just from the idea of a pool,” she said.