(10-11-2020) LA BASILICA DI AQUILEIA

As part of the celebrations for the 2,200^th anniversary of the foundation of the city of Aquileia, seat of the powerful medieval Patriarchate of the same name, one of the most important religious and political realities of the Middle Ages, the Vatican is undertaking a joint issue of a postage stamp with Italy and the Sovereign Order of Malta. The stamp reproduces one of the most characteristic buildings: the Basilica. The Romanesque masterpiece dedicated to the Virgin Mary and Saints Hermagoras and Fortunatus has its roots in the years immediately following 313 AD when, thanks to the Edict of Milan, the Christian community had the opportunity to freely build its first church.In the following centuries, after the destruction of this first church, seat of the bishop, the Aquileians rebuilt it four times, constructing the new buildings on the ruins of the previous ones. The € 1.10 stamp reproduces the front elevation of the Basilica with the bell tower. For the occasion, a joint Folder has also been realized with Poste Italiane and the Sovereign Order of Malta containing, for each of the postal administrations, a block of four stamps and a stamped envelope with DIE EMISSIONIS cancellation.