Most people believe that the greatest wealth in the world is the treasures of the House of Romanovs or the British Crown. Alas, this is not so: it turns out that most of the jewelry (a total of 21,620 pieces of jewelry art) is in the Cathedral of St. Januarius - the patron saint of the Italian city of Naples …
Among the many most expensive items donated by the illustrious monarchs of Europe, and a magnificent miter adorned with 3,328 diamonds, 198 emeralds and 168 rubies, the Cathedral of St. Januarius also contains a necklace intended for the bust of the saint.
According to the surviving documents, Januarius himself came from an aristocratic family from the city of Benevento. At a young age he believed in Christ and, having shown himself as a wonderful preacher, while still a young man became the first bishop of Benevento.
The saint lived during the time of the Roman emperor Diocletian, who was known for his hostile attitude towards Christians. Januarius regularly visited fellow believers who had been thrown into prison and celebrated the liturgy with them in prison.
During one of these services, Januarius was arrested. The bishop, as well as the deacons of Sozios, Proclus, Festus, the reader of Desiderius and the laity, Akutius and Eutychios, were first thrown into a red-hot oven. They remained unharmed. After that, they were given to be eaten by animals in the circus of Pozzuoli. But the beasts did not touch the true believers. Then their heads were simply cut off. This time the miracle did not happen - apparently, the ax turned out to be stronger than prayer. This happened in 305, when Januarius was only 30 years old.
The Christians secretly buried Januarius in Pozzuoli. There, at the beginning of the 5th century, the relics were found by the Neapolitan bishop John I. He transferred them to the catacombs located at the foot of the Capodimonte hill, north of Naples. Then they were transported to Benevento, and later they found peace for a long time in the monastery of Monte Vergine.
In 1497, all the relics of Saint Januarius were transferred by the city authorities to Naples. In those days, the Kingdom of Naples, torn apart by the war between Spain and France, was plagued by plague and frequent earthquakes. The townspeople wanted protection.
In 1527, Naples created a committee that was supposed to collect and protect the gifts presented to the patron of the city.
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Among these offerings was a necklace made by the jeweler Michele Dat in 1769 for a gilded silver bust of the saint installed in the chapel where his relics are kept. It is adorned with five bejeweled crosses donated by representatives of the royal house of Bourbons, who ruled in Naples and the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, as well as by Napoleon Bonaparte. The necklace is one of the most exquisite pieces of jewelry in the world.
Igor RODIONOV