Santa Maria in Trastevere

Basilica of Our Lady in Trastevere
Façade of Santa Maria in Trastevere
Basic information
Location	Rome, Italy
Geographic coordinates
Affiliation	Roman Catholic
Ecclesiastical or organizational status	Minor basilica
Leadership	Loris Francesco Capovilla
Architectural description
Architect(s)	Carlo Fontana
Architectural type	Church
Direction of façade	E
Groundbreaking	4th century
Completed	1143
Specifications
Length	56 metres (184 ft)
Width	30 metres (98 ft)
Width (nave)	16 metres (52 ft)

The Basilica of Santa Maria in Trastevere (English: Our Lady in Trastevere) is a titular minor basilica in the Trastevere district of Rome, and one of the oldest churches of Rome. The basic floor plan and wall structure of the church date back to the 340s, and much of the structure to 1140-43. The first sanctuary was built in 221 and 227 by Pope Callixtus I and later completed by Pope Julius I. The church has large areas of important mosaics from the late 13th century by Pietro Cavallini.

History

Madonna and Child at the top of the campanile.

Santa Maria in Trastevere, with the Domenichino's works, Rome Italy

The inscription on the episcopal throne states that it is the first church dedicated to Mary, mother of Jesus, although some claim that privilege belongs to the Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore. In its founding it is certainly one of the oldest churches in the city. A Christian house-church was founded here about 220 by Pope Saint Callixtus I (217–222) on the site of the Taberna meritoria, a refuge for retired soldiers. The area was given over for Christian use by the Emperor Alexander Severus when he settled a dispute between the Christians and tavern-keepers, saying, according to the Liber Pontificalis "I prefer that it should belong to those who honor God, whatever be their form of worship." In 340 Pope Julius I (337–352) rebuilt the titulus Callixti on a larger scale, and it became the titulus Iulii commemorating his patronage, one of the original twenty-five parishes in Rome; indeed it may be the first church in which Mass was celebrated openly.

It underwent two restorations in the fifth and eighth centuries. In 1140-43 the church was re-erected on its old foundations under Pope Innocent II. Innocent II razed the church to the ground, along with the recently completed tomb of the Antipope Anacletus II, his former rival. Innocent II arranged for his own burial on the spot formerly occupied by the tomb.

The richly carved Ionic capitals reused along its nave were taken either from the ruins of the Baths of Caracalla or the nearby Temple of Isis on the Janiculum. When scholarship during the 19th century identified the faces in their carved decoration as Isis, Serapis and Harpocrates, a restoration under Pius IX in 1870 hammered off the offending faces.

The predecessor of the present church was probably built in the early fourth century although that church was the successor to one of the tituli, those Early Christian basilicas that were ascribed to a patron and perhaps literally inscribed with his name. Although nothing remains to establish with certainty where any of the public Christian edifices of Rome before the time of Constantine the Great were situated, the basilica on this site was known as Titulus Callisti, based upon a legend in the Liber Pontificalis which ascribed the earliest church here to a foundation by Pope Callixtus I (died 222), whose remains, translated to the new structure, are preserved under the altar.

Interior

13th-century mosaics in the apse

Mosaic of the Annunciation by Pietro Cavallini (1291)

The present nave preserves its original (pre-12th century) basilica plan and stands on the earlier foundations. The 22 granite columns with Ionic and Corinthian capitals that separate the nave from the aisles came from the ruins of the Baths of Caracalla, as did the lintel of the entrance door. Inside the church are a number of late 13th-century mosaics by Pietro Cavallini on the subject of the Life of the Virgin (1291) centering on a "Coronation of the Virgin" in the apse. Domenichino's octagonal ceiling painting, Assumption of the Virgin (1617) fits in the coffered ceiling setting that he designed.

The fifth chapel to the left is the Avila Chapel designed by Antonio Gherardi. This, and his Chapel of S. Cecilia in San Carlo ai Catinari are two of the most architecturally inventive chapels of the late seventeenth century in Rome. The lower order of the chapel is fairly dark and employs Borromini-like forms. In the dome, there is an opening or oculus from which four putti emerge to carry a central tempietto, all of which frames a light-filled chamber above, illuminated by windows not visible from below. The church keeps a relic of Saint Apollonia, her head, as well as a portion of the Holy Sponge. Among those buried in the church are the relics of Pope Callixtus I, Pope Innocent II, Antipope Anacletus II, Cardinal Philippe of Alençon and Cardinal Lorenzo Campeggio.

Piazza di S. Maria in Trastevere as it was at the end of the 17th century (G.B. Falda, engraving).

Exterior

12th-century mosaic of the Virgin Mary with the infant Jesus flanked by 10 women holding lamps.

The Romanesque campanile is from the 12th century. Near the top, a niche protects a mosaic of the Madonna and Child. The mosaics on the facade are believed to be from the 12th century. They depict the Madonna enthroned and suckling the Child, flanked by ten women holding lamps. This image on the facade showing Mary nursing Jesus is an early example of a popular late medieval and renaissance type of image of the Virgin. The motif itself originated much earlier, with significant seventh-century Coptic examples at Wadi Natrun in Egypt.

The façade of the church was restored by Carlo Fontana in 1702, who replaced the ancient porch with a sloping tiled roof— seen in Falda's view— with the present classicizing one. The octagonal fountain in the piazza in front of the church (Piazza di Santa Maria in Trastevere), which already appears in a map of 1472, was restored by Carlo Fontana.

The titulus

Ancient sources maintain that the titulus S. Mariae was established by Pope Alexander I around 112. Later traditions give the names of the early patrons of the tituli and have retrospectively assigned them the title of cardinal: thus at that time, the cardinal-patron of this basilica, these traditions assert, would have been Saint Calepodius. Pope Callixtus I confirmed the titulus in 221; to honor him it was changed into Ss. Callisti et Iuliani; it was renamed S. Mariae trans Tiberim by Innocent II. By the 12th century cardinal deacons as well as the presbyters had long been dispensed from personal service at the tituli. Among the past Cardinal Priests holding the honorary titulus of Santa Maria in Trastevere, have been the Cardinal Duke of York (whose coat of arms, topped by a crown rather than a galero (red hat), is visible over the screen to the right of the altar), James Gibbons, Pope Leo XII and Józef Glemp. The incumbent Cardinal-Priest is Loris Francesco Capovilla - the oldest living cardinal.

The square in front of the basilica is one of the centres of Trastevere nightlife.

Significant events

In July 2014, the wedding of Prince Amedeo of Belgium, Archduke of Austria-Este and Elisabetta Rosboch von Wolkenstein was held at the basilica.

See also

• Roman Catholic Marian churches
• Fountain in Piazza Santa Maria in Trastevere

External links

• Gallery of photographic details
• [2], kunsthistorie.com
• "Titulus" article, Catholic Encyclopedia (1908)
• "Roman Monographies: Fountains Part III" Fountain in Piazza Santa Maria in Trastevere
• "Church Location on the Map and more info" Church Location on the Map and more info
• "3D model of the balisica in Sketchfab"