The entablature above has a blank frieze, and the crowning triangular tympanum has the cardinal's coat-of-arms in it as mentioned. The church has a façade built in 1725 by Ferdinando Fuga, which incloses a courtyard decorated with ancient mosaics, columns and a cantharus (water vessel). The first unambiguous documentary reference, apart from the legend, is in the list of priests attending a synod under Pope Symmachus in 499, when it was one of three tituli or parish churches in Trastevere (the others being San Crisogono and the present Santa Maria in Trastevere). The side portals are rectangular, and above each is a panel bearing a stucco relief of palm branches in a crown. It is especially nice in the spring, when the flowers are in bloom, and the roses are impressive in season. Under the Chapel of the Relics are the remains of a large room with an apse and a mosaic floor; this room was restored in the 3rd century. The central Lamb of God is standing on a hexagonal device, which probably represents the font of baptism. These angels and the wise virgins are thought not to have been by Arnolfo, but to be of his school. There was a lead pipe serving as a water inlet, and this has the names of both SS Cecilia and Chrysogonus on it. The architect is thought to have been Fuga, although there seems to be doubt about this. Cardinal-Priest of Santa Maria in Trastevere; Luigi Cardinal Caetani † (1622) Cardinal-Priest of Santa Pudenziana; Ludovico Cardinal Ludovisi † (1621) Archbishop of Bologna; Archbishop Galeazzo Sanvitale † (1604) Archbishop Emeritus of Bari (-Canosa) Girolamo Cardinal Bernerio, O.P. Frescoes Mon–Sat 10am–12:30pm Transportation Bus: H, 44, or 125/Tram: 8 Phone 06-45492739 Prices Church free admission; Cavallini frescoes 3€; excavations 3€ Web site Santa Cecilia in Trastevere The ancient church of Santa Cecilia in Trastevere was built by Pope Paschal I (r. 817-24) to house the remains of St Cecilia and her husband St Valerius, which were transferred to the church from the catacombs of San Callisto in 820. To see the fresco, you must ring the doorbell to the left of the church's entrance. The vault is decorated with a representation of SS Cecilia, Valerian, Stephen, Urban and Laurence, surrounded by vistas and with depictions of hermit saints. The centrepiece is a trompe l'oeil depiction of the crypt for which the cardinal was responsible, revealed by an angel drawing back a marble curtain while a statue of the cardinal looks in. This is an emblem of martyrdom. The second storey has two arched orifices on each face, and the third one three; each archivolt has a double arc of bricks with the lower one recessed, and the archivolt springers of both storeys are connected by a string course. This focused on a re-ordering of the saint's shrine, and involved the disinterment of the relics in 1599 in the presence of witnesses. The basilica was provided with a colonnaded atrium, which has gone, and in the centre of this was a placed a large ancient stone two-handled vase known as a cantharus (from the Greek κανθαρος). They consist of a wall with several columns and piers, all in the local tufa and with the wall in opus quadratum (squared blocks). Artists: In front of the church is a beautiful courtyard. When Fuga restored the façade, he lowered the surface of the courtyard so that the level matched that of the floor of the church. The revised Roman martyrology, 2004, has this carefully worded entry on her feast-day of 22 November: Memoria sanctae Caeciliae, virginis et martyris, quae duplicem illam palmam Romae in coemeterio Callisti via Appia pro Christi amore consecuta esse traditur, cuiusque nomen titulus ecclesiae Transtiberinus antiquitus praebet. Details. 09:30-12:30 and 16:00-18:30 daily, frescos by Cavallini M-Sa 10:15-12:15, Su 11:00-12:30. In the same campaign the relics of SS Valerian, Tiburtius and Maximus were transferred from the catacomb of St Praetextatus and enshrined in another marble sarcophagus. As mentioned, at the bottom end of the left hand aisle is a room which now contains the entrance to the underground excavations for paying visitors. The suggestion that it was founded in the 3rd century presumes the historicity of the legend. The guide in 2013 was Neda Parmeggiani, who has co-authored a book on the excavations. He may also have been responsible for the convent entrance block on the piazza, erected in 1742 and with an impressive propylaeum bearing the coat-of-arms of Cardinal Troiano Acquaviva d'Aragona who had inherited the cardinalate title from his uncle in 1733. ... during the renovation works, Cardinal Sfondrati had the tomb of Santa Cecilia opened, thus revealing the miraculously intact body, dressed in white and with wounds on her neck. It used to be part of a larger scheme depicting the legend of St Cecilia, but the rest was destroyed together with further scenes showing the martyrdoms of SS Vincent, Laurence and Stephen the Holy Deacons. The intricate early Baroque funerary monument at the right hand end of the loggia is worth more than a glance. The early excavators labelled this the domus, but it looks more like a utilitarian building such as a warehouse or horrea. His interest arose from his campaign to bring all known relics of the Roman martyrs from the catacombs to new shrines within the city walls; this was because the countryside around Rome was being overrun by marauders, and the catacombs were unsafe to visit. At first glance, the main nave may disappoint. The wall of the apse below the mosaic is panelled in pale green veined marble framed in red marble, which is the result of a modern restoration. Historians formerly guessed that these pits belonged to a corarium or tannery recorded as having been in the locality, but the present consensus rejects this. More tickets & tours. The church contains two altarpieces by Guido Reni: Saints Valerian and Cecilia and a Decapitation of Saint Cecilia (1603).[4]. The campaign lasted from 1712 to 1728, and the supervising architects were Domenico Paradesi and Luigi Berrettoni. With the help of her guardian angel, actively involved in her case, she persuaded him to agree to respect the vow and to go down the Appian Way to find a bishop called Urban living in the catacombs. In that year, the yard was converted into a garden with the cantharus as the centrepiece of a pool surrounded by low formal box hedging. Architect(s): Perhaps the main attraction is Pietro Cavallini's Last Judgment fresco, often cited as the masterpiece of the artist who, with Giotto, was a prominent Late Gothic artist and a forerunner of the early The monastery was then given to the Benedictine nuns of the long-established monastery of Santa Maria della Concezione in Campo Marzio by Pope Clement VII (1523-1534). If he is to be believed, it raises an interesting question as to how the body was handled. Sundays and Solemnities: Lauds 7:15, Terce 8:30, Mass 10:00, Sext 13:00, Vespers 19:15. Once inside, you find yourself in a shallow vestibule separated from the main nave by an arcade of five arches. Courtyard, facade, and medieval tower. Gangemi, 1999. Since the restoration ordered in 1823 by Cardinal Giorgio Doria-Pamphilj Landi, titular priest of the church 1818-1837, these columns have been encased in squat Doric pillars. Problems with the archaeological evidence. 22 Piazza di Santa Cecilia They repay examination, especially the Gothic grave slabs which include one of Battista Ponziani dating from 1480 and with an effigy of her in contemporary dress. However in the past the story was very popular, and it has obviously influenced the artworks and devotional layout of her church. Churches of Rome Wiki is a FANDOM Lifestyle Community. The nuns have been here ever since. It was here from 1562 to 1661. These light the nuns' choir. Popular points of interest near the accommodation include Pantheon, Palazzo Venezia and Piazza Venezia. When they are open, there should be someone (often one of the sisters) to sell you a ticket in the room at the bottom end of the left hand aisle. The 18th century Chapel of Relics was designed by Luigi Vanvitelli. Built: The reference to Urban the bishop could easily be taken to refer to Pope St Urban I (222-230), and there is a traditional association with him and the area of the Appian Way around the third milestone (see Sant'Urbano all Caffarella). Haec aulam Domini formans fundamine claro, aurea gemmatis resonant haec dindima templi, laetus amore Dei hic coniunxit corpora sancta. On 22 November 545, Pope Vigilius was celebrating the Feast of the saint in the church, when the emissary of Empress Theodora, Anthemius Scribo, captured him. These are of different sizes, with the central one being largest, the two flanking it narrower (these are now trabeated, with infilled tympani), and the outer two narrower still. Here, the formation of adipocere is a plausible explanation for the incorruption. However, the nuns now realize the importance of the work and the interest shown in it, and have regularized access by payment. In conclusion, historically St Cecilia can be taken as a martyr of uncertain date who left a tradition of burial at the Catacombs of Callistus, and an association with the site at Trastevere. Here there is a monument to Cardinal Giuseppe Maria Feroni. He is flanked to the left by St Paul, St Cecilia and Pope Paschal I (with a miniature model of the church, identifying him as the builder, and a square halo showing that he was still alive when the mosaic was made). The scrollwork is embellished with flowers and little animals, and also with little tondi containing portrait busts. In the apse of the crypt are the remains of an altar whose inscription indicates that it was dedicated by Pope Gregory VII (1073-1085) on 3 June 1080. The date of the first church on the site is unknown, and the early history of the titulus Caeciliae is lost. This led to the large, richly decorated crypt now existing, the architect of which was Giovanni Battista Giovenale. The structural fabric of the church is re-used Roman brick, visible here. The frescoes were plastered over in a remodeling under Cardinal Francesco Acquaviva in 1724, which included building an enclosed choir, the floor of which cuts off part of the Last Judgement. The mosaic work was executed by Giuseppe Bravi. The access is now at the bottom end of the left hand aisle. I recommend trying to see Cavallini's fresco in the choir. However, they had been responsible for the production of pallia and the nuns at Santa Cecilia inherited this responsibility on their foundation. See San Giovanni a Porta Latina for what the church would have ended up looking like. Also, galleries above the arcades were enclosed to form passages to a choir above the entrance; these features were for the use of the nuns. Also there is an enclosure doorway leading into the present nuns' choir, which has an altarpiece depicting a Crucifixion between SS Ursula and Cecilia. Tradition… At either end of the composition is a date-palm, with the left hand one having a phoenix sitting in it as a symbol of the Resurrection. However, there was no persecution of the Church at Rome in his reign, since the emperor Alexander Severus had a policy of tolerance. Here is the entrance to the crypt, nowadays kept locked. Santa Cecilia in Trastevere, Piazza di Santa Cecilia in Trastevere, ☎ +39 6 589 9289. Cardinal Rampolla wished to restore the church to its presumed mediaeval appearance, but could do little apart from having the crypt built. 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