The Basilica of San Valentino is one of the religious monuments of Terni as it is dedicated to the patron saint.
Venerated as a saint by the Catholic Church, by the Orthodox Church and later by the Anglican Church, he is universally known as the patron saint of lovers and the feast of February 14 is dedicated to him and to lovers.
The first building dates back to the 4th century, and was built above the tomb of the martyr Saint Valentine, in an ancient early Christian necropolis. It was destroyed in the 6th century by the Goths, and then rebuilt in the 7th century, when the building was managed by the Benedictines.
In 742 the Basilica was the scene of the historic meeting between the Lombard king Liutprando and Pope Zaccaria. The meeting place was chosen by the ruler of the Lombards because of the presence of the body of the saint who was said to have thaumaturgical properties.
However, the current building dates back to the 17th century, when under the pontificate of Paul V the search for the relics of the saint was successfully begun in the place where the first churches stood. The new basilica was completed in 1618 when the remains of the saint's body housed in the cathedral of Terni were moved there. Behind the main altar is the choir with the so-called confession of San Valentino, or an altar, built just above the martyr's tomb, at the center of which is a painting dating back to the seventeenth century that celebrates the martyrdom of the saint.