The Head of St John the Baptist

Map

Head of St John the Baptist, stained glass window in the church of San Silvestro in Capite

---

August 29th is the Feast Day of the Beheading of St John the Baptist. What is purported to be the skull of the saint is enshrined in the church of San Silvestro in Capite.

According to the New Testament, Herod Antipas, ruler of Galilee under the Roman Empire, imprisoned John because he had publicly reproved him for divorcing his first wife and unlawfully marrying Herodias, who had been his brother’s wife. As punishment, Herod ordered John's beheading.