Syrus of Genoa

Saint Syrus of Genoa was a priest and then bishop of Genoa in Italy in the fourth century. He is the main patron of the city. He reposed around 380 or 381, on 29 June.

He was born at Struppa, a district of Genoa, and was noted for holiness and zeal. He had been parish priest at the church of Saint Romulus (San Remo) and then succeeded Bishop Felix, shepherding the see, according to the calendars, from 324 to 380. He died at an advanced age of natural causes and was buried in the city.

Tradition tells that as a boy he restored his pet blackbird to life with his saliva, and that, walking with his father in the hills, he stilled a boat that was making for the harbor and then let it enter port. A legend holds that the bishop banished a basilisk that dwelt in a well next to the church of the Twelve Apostles, and a plaque on a nearby house recalls the miracle. The Basilica of San Siro in Genoa, one of the oldest churches of the city, was at first the cathedral; since it stood outside the walls, exposed to Saracen pirates, the title of cathedral passed to San Lorenzo. He is commemorated on 29 June as a saint of the undivided Church, by the New Calendar.