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Home > Italy Travel Guide > Chiesa di Santa Maria Sopra Minerva

Chiesa di Santa Maria Sopra Minerva

BACKGROUND INFORMATION

Introduction
History
Location

ATTRACTIONS

What's to see

USEFUL INFORMATION

Useful information
Links

Introduction

The church, served by the Dominican order (the headquarters of which are to the left of the church), is built on the site of a temple of Minerva; hence its name. This is Rome's only Gothic church and is filled to bursting with art treasures, and with the ghosts of famous personages in Church history.

History

Details of the ruined temple to Minerva, built by Pompey about 50 B.C., referred to as Delubrum Minervae are not known. A temple to Isis and a Serapeum may also underlie the present basilica and its former convent buildings, for in 1665 an Egyptian obelisk was found, buried in the garden of the Dominican cloister adjacent to the church. The present building owes its existence to the Dominican Friars, who received the property from Pope Alexander IV (1254-1261) and made the church and adjoining monastery their headquarters before later establishing it in Santa Sabina. The Dominican Order still administers the area today.

Fra Sisto Fiorentino and Fra Ristoro da Campi, who had worked on the church of Santa Maria Novella in Florence, began the present structure in 1280, during the pontificate of Nicholas III. With the help of funds contributed by Boniface VIII, this first Gothic church in Rome was completed in 1370. It was renovated by Carlo Maderno and others, given a Baroque facade, then restored in the 19th century to its present neo-medieval state. The gates are from the 15th century.

Location

The basilica is located on the small piazza Minerva close to the Pantheon, in the rione Pigna.
Address: Piazza della Minerva 42, I-00186 Rome, Italy
Transit: Bus: 26, 87, 94.

What's to see

The interior is the only example of Gothic architecture in Rome. The 3 naves are crowned by cross vaults resting on marble pillars, but the most arresting sight is the decoration which is a true work of art. The chapels are decorated with frescoes and mosaics by artists like Melozzo da Forlì, Andrea Bregno, Verrocchio, Giuliano da Maiano, and Filippo Lippi.

Situated in the center of the city and served by St Dominic's preaching order, the church was popular with the people of Rome, and the number of grave-slabs in the floor and on the walls of this three-aisled basilica and in the side chapels with their numerous pictures bears witness to the part it played in the religious life of the city. The best known of the funerary chapels is the Caraffa Chapel at the end of the south transept, also known as the Chapel of the Annunciation of St Thomas, which contains the tomb of Cardinal Oliviero Caraffa (1347-80) and is famous for its frescoes by Filippo Lippi (1489). These glorify both the Virgin (Annunciation and Assumption) and St Thomas Aquinus, a member of the Dominican order (the triumph of the saint and scenes from his life). The high altar contains the relics of St Catherine of Siena (1347-80), author of numerous letters to the exiled Popes at Avignon urging them to return to Rome. In front of the altar, on the left, is a statue of the Risen Christ by Michelangelo (1521) who depicted Christ with the symbols of his martyrdom embracing the Cross. In a passage to the left of the presbytery is the tomb of the painter Fra Angelico, a member of the Dominican order.

On one side of the church can be seen the former convent which was once the offices of the Ministry of Education and now of the Ministry of Scientific and Technological Research. It also holds the Casanatense Library with texts from the history of the Church. In the centre of the square in front of the church stands a small Egyptian obelisk known as the Pulcin della Minerva.

Major artworks
Aldobrandini Chapel, by Carlo Maderno, Giacomo della Porta and Girolamo Rainaldi
Carafa Chapel with frescoes by Filippino Lippi
Christ the Redeemer (1521) by Michelangelo
Annunciation (1485), by Antoniazzo Romano
The tombs of the Popes Leo X and Clement VII by Antonio da Sangallo the Younger.
Tomb of Paulus IV by Pirro Ligorio (1559)
Tomb of Urban VII
Tomb of Beato Angelico, by Isaia da Pisa (1455)
Tomb of Guillaume Durand, signed by Giovanni di Cosma (1296)
Memorial to Maria Raggi, by Gian Lorenzo Bernini (1643)
Tomb of Francesco Tornabuoni (1480), one of the best works by Mino da Fiesole

Useful information

Telephone:+39 6 699 0339
email Giovanni.Monti@agora.it
Open: 8:00am to 19:00pm
Week-end: Holy Mass 10:00, 11:00, 12:00, 18:00
Confessions 09:30-12:30, 16:30-18:30
Weekdays: Holy Mass 07:15, 18:00
Confessions 16:30-18:30

Links

Offical Site

Santa Maria sopra Minerva information

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