Life

Galla was the daughter of Roman

Roman citizenship

Citizenship in ancient Rome was a privileged political and legal status afforded to certain free-born individuals with respect to laws, property, and governance....

 patrician Symmachus the Younger

Quintus Aurelius Memmius Symmachus

Quintus Aurelius Memmius Symmachus was a Roman aristocrat and a historian of the 6th century. Prominent during his lifetime for as a patron of secular learning, consul for the year 485, and for his support of Pope Symmachus in the schism over his election, Memmius Symmachus was executed with his...

, who was appointed consul in 485. Galla was also the sister-in-law

Sister-in-law

A sister-in-law is the sister of one's spouse, the wife of one's sibling, or sometimes the wife of one's spouse's sibling...

 of Boethius

Anicius Manlius Severinus Boethius

Anicius Manlius Severinus Boëthius, commonly called Boethius was a philosopher of the early 6th century. He was born in Rome to an ancient and important family which included emperors Petronius Maximus and Olybrius and many consuls. His father, Flavius Manlius Boethius, was consul in 487 after...

. Her father, Symmachus the Younger

Quintus Aurelius Memmius Symmachus

Quintus Aurelius Memmius Symmachus was a Roman aristocrat and a historian of the 6th century. Prominent during his lifetime for as a patron of secular learning, consul for the year 485, and for his support of Pope Symmachus in the schism over his election, Memmius Symmachus was executed with his...

, was condemned to death, unjustly, by Theodoric

Theodoric the Great

Theodoric the Great was king of the Ostrogoths , ruler of Italy , regent of the Visigoths , and a viceroy of the Eastern Roman Empire...

 in 525. Galla was then married but was soon widowed, just over a year after marriage. It was believed that she grew a beard, to avoid further offers of marriage. Being wealthy, she decided to retreat to the Vatican Hill

Vatican Hill

Vatican Hill is the name given, long before the founding of Christianity, to one of the hills on the side of the Tiber opposite the traditional seven hills of Rome...

, and found a hospital

Hospital

A hospital is a health care institution providing patient treatment by specialized staff and equipment. Hospitals often, but not always, provide for inpatient care or longer-term patient stays....

 and a convent

Convent

A convent is either a community of priests, religious brothers, religious sisters, or nuns, or the building used by the community, particularly in the Roman Catholic Church and in the Anglican Communion...

, near St. Peter's Basilica. Galla is reputed to have once healed a deaf and mute girl, by blessing some water, and giving it to the girl to drink. Galla remained there for the rest of her life, tending to the sick and poor, before dying in 550, of breast cancer

Breast cancer

Breast cancer is cancer originating from breast tissue, most commonly from the inner lining of milk ducts or the lobules that supply the ducts with milk. Cancers originating from ducts are known as ductal carcinomas; those originating from lobules are known as lobular carcinomas...

.

Legacy

A biography of Galla's life is present in the Dialogues, of Saint Gregory the Great. Galla is also believed to be the inspiration for the letter of Saint Fulgentius of Ruspe

Fulgentius of Ruspe

Saint Fulgentius of Ruspe was bishop of the city of Ruspe, North Africa, in the 5th and 6th century who was canonized as a Christian saint...

, titled "De statu viduarum". The old church dedicated to St. Galla, was located near the Piazza Montanara, but was demolished in the 1930, to make way for a new road, the Via del Teatro Marcello. The new church dedicated to St. Galla was concercrated in 1940, and is located in the Ostiense quarter

Ostiense

Ostiense is a quarter in the south of Rome, Italy. It comprises the area near the Ostiense Way from the Porta San Paolo to the Magliana Viaduct. Its official boundaries include the neighborhood of Garbatella....

. The old church once contained a picture of Our Lady, which represents a vision of Our Lady to St. Galla. It is now placed over the high altar of the church Santa Maria in Campitelli

Santa Maria in Campitelli

Santa Maria in Campitelli or Santa Maria in Portico is a church dedicated to the Virgin Mary on the Piazza di Campitelli, Rome, Italy....

.

Galla is one of the 140 Colonnade saints which adorn St. Peter's Square.