Chiesa di S. Maria sopra Minerva - Roma, Lazio
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N 41° 53.882 E 012° 28.664
33T E 290771 N 4641531
Basilica di Santa Maria sopra Minerva (Saint Mary above Minerva) is one of the major churches of the Roman Catholic Order of Preachers (better known as the Dominicans) in Rome, Italy.
Waymark Code: WM14PFW
Location: Lazio, Italy
Date Posted: 08/06/2021
Views: 24
The church is located in Piazza della Minerva one block behind the Pantheon in the Pigna rione of Rome within the ancient district known as the Campus Martius.
In Roman times there were three temples in what is now the area surrounding the basilica and former convent buildings: the Minervium, built by Gnaeus Pompey in honour of the goddess Minerva about 50 BC, referred to as Delubrum Minervae; the Iseum dedicated to Isis, and the Serapeum dedicated to Serapis. The famous elephant obelisk in front of the church was originally at the Iseum and was dug up in the part of the convent that impinges on the temple precinct.
The Dominicans began building the present Gothic church in 1280 modelling it on their church in Florence Santa Maria Novella. In 1453 church interior construction was finally completed when Cardinal Juan Torquemada ordered that the main nave be covered by a vault that reduced the overall projected height of the church. In the same year of 1453 Count Francesco Orsini sponsored the construction of the façade at his own expense. However work on the façade remained incomplete until 1725 when it was finally finished by order of Pope Benedict XIII.
While many other medieval churches in Rome have been given Baroque makeovers that cover Gothic structures, the Minerva is the only extant example of original Gothic architecture church building in Rome. Behind a restrained Renaissance style façade the Gothic interior features arched vaulting that was painted blue with gilded stars and trimmed with brilliant red ribbing in a 19th-century Neo-Gothic restoration.
Among several important works of art in the church are Michelangelo's statue Cristo della Minerva (1521) and the late 15th-century (1488–93) cycle of frescos in the Carafa Chapel by Filippino Lippi. The basilica also houses many funerary monuments including the tombs of Doctor of the Church Saint Catherine of Siena (1347-1380), who was a member of the Third Order of Saint Dominic; the Dominican friar Blessed John of Fiesole (Fra Giovanni da Fiesole, born Guido di Piero) better known as Fra Angelico (c. 1395-1455); and ornate monuments to the Medici Popes: Leo X (born Giovanni de Medici, c. 1475-1521) and Clement VII (born Giulio de Medici, c. 1478-1534), designed by Baccio Bandinelli.
Opening hours: Mondays to Fridays 6:55 to 19:00; Saturdays 10:00 to 12:30, 15:30 to 19:00; Sundays 8:30 to 12:30, 15:30 to 19:00.
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