The Basilica of Saint Valentine stands just outside the historic center of Terni, on the site of an ancient Christian cemetery where Valentine himself, the city's first bishop and martyr who lived in the 3rd century AD, was buried. The first church dedicated to his worship was the site of the historic meeting in 742 between Pope Zachary and the elderly Lombard king Liutprand, a fervent supporter of the martyr's healing powers, whose remains were already venerated there. Passed to the Benedictines, between the 8th and 13th centuries the basilica suffered the fate of the city of Terni, subjected to raids, looting, and destruction. Today it houses the altar containing the body of Saint Valentine, solemnly returned to the basilica in 1618. The stucco statues on the façade, also from the 17th century, were installed during the mid-19th-century restoration.