CHIUSI and PIENZA, DIOCESE of. - In the province of Siena, suffragan of Siena. C. in the Valdichiana was one of the twelve Etruscan lucumonies.
Christianity is attested in the 3rd century by monuments, as is likewise the origin of the diocese, since a Christian inscription recalls Bishop Lucio Petronio Destro, born in 256 and died in 322 (CIL, X, 1, 2548). Other bishops known thereafter are Fiorentino (558-60), to whom Pope Pelagio I wrote, and Ecclesio in 600.
The diocese has an area of 1,168 sq. km., with 65,575 inhabitants, all Catholics; it includes 61 parishes, 82 diocesan and 24 regular clergy, and a seminary at P.
In 1633, near the church of S. Mustiola, an underground Christian cemetery was discovered, but it was explored only in the spring of 1830. The martyr Mustiola is commemorated in the Martyrologium Hieronymianum: in Tuscia s. Mustiolae on 23 November; there is also a Possio of hers (BHL, nos. 445-56). An inscription discovered in the cemetery mentions a Giulia Asinia Felicissima ex genere Mustiole sanctae (CIL, XI, 2549). Was the martyr the eponym of the cemetery? Its ancient entrance led into a spacious chamber, from which the cemetery galleries branch off, mostly with arcosolia. There, besides the aforementioned inscription of Bishop L. Petronio Destro, were found those of a deacon named Sulpicio Felicissimo (CIL, XI, 2561), of a Senzio Respetto, exorcist, of the neophytes Sulpicio Vincenzo (ibid., 2560) and Ulpia Faustina (ibid., 2563). Aurelius Melitus imfaus cristaeanus fidelis peregrinus mori diae Saturni Pascae noctis ipsius pervigilatio oratione quinta (ibid., 2551), that is, on Holy Saturday, on the night of the Easter vigil, while the fifth prayer was being recited. The inscription belongs to the second half of the 4th century, to 354 or 363, or 378. A Redenta died in the year 390 (ibid., 2573). There is also a Peregrinus Ciconius cuius nomine Deus scis (ibid., 2568). In a fragment belonging to a C(larissima) p(uella) is the wish: dormis in somno pacis (ibid., 2579). The cemetery called that of S. Caterina lies on the road to Città di Pieve; it too has a large cubiculum, at the entrance of which is a travertine architrave commemorating the burial of the boy Capelione (ibid., 2537). In the inscription of L. Fonteia Concordia, wife of Steno Callicrate, it is said that cereis calicibus funus duverunt (ibid., 2534). Among the other Christian inscriptions of C. should be recalled that of a Laureutia quae credidit resurrectionem, who died in the year 493 (ibid., 2585).
The cathedral, S. Secondiano (12th century), which has three naves divided by 18 reused columns, was disfigured by a restoration at the end of the 19th century. It preserves three epigrams relating to the restoration of the marble ciborium commissioned there in the time of Bishop Arcadio and King Liutprando by Gregorio, duke of C. In the sacristy are preserved 22 illuminated choir books of the 15th century, from the monastery of Monte Oliveto Maggiore, sacred vestments of the 13th century, and an ivory casket of the 15th century. The church of S. Francesco has a Romanesque portal; that of S. Maria della Morte dates from the 13th century, though now renovated, and uses the adjacent medieval tower as its bell tower.
The Etruscan hypogea (known as those of the Scimia, Colle, Granduca, and Tassinaia), and the archaeological material partly preserved in the local Civic Museum, were illustrated by R. Bianchi Bandinelli, Clusium, in Monumenti antichi dei Lincei, XXX, II (1925).
In 1880 G. B. De Rossi identified at C. an ivory comb which, on both sides, bears engravings of two sheep: on one side they face a veiled chair, on the other a crown. Together with the comb, many coins of the 4th century and some terracotta lamps, likewise of the 4th century, were found (G. B. De Rossi, Pettine adorno di simboli cristiani trovato in C., in Bullett. d'arch. crist., 3ª serie, 6 [1881], pp. 75-85).
For the history of P.: V. PAZIENZA.