| Sant'Andrea delle Fratte | |
|---|---|
 Façade of the church from the Piazza | |
 Click on the map for a fullscreen view | |
| 41°54′13″N12°29′01″E / 41.9036°N 12.4836°E /41.9036; 12.4836 | |
| Location | 1 Via di Sant'Andrea delle Fratte,Rome |
| Country | Italy |
| Denomination | Catholic |
| Tradition | Latin Church |
| Religious order | Order of Minims |
| Website | santandreadellefratte |
| History | |
| Status | Titular church |
| Dedication | Andrew the Apostle |
| Architecture | |
| Architect(s) | Francesco Borromini Mattia de Rossi |
| Architectural type | Church |
| Style | Baroque |
| Groundbreaking | 1604 |
| Completed | 1826 |
| Clergy | |
| Cardinal protector | Ennio Antonelli |
Sant'Andrea delle Fratte ("Saint Andrew of the Thickets") is a 17th-centurybasilicachurch inRome, Italy, dedicated toSt. Andrew. TheCardinal Priest of theTitulus S. Andreae Apostoli de Hortis isEnnio Antonelli.
The current church was built over a pre-existing one, erected in 1192, calledinfra hortes ("amidst the orchards", whence the namefratte, "thickets", fromByzantine Greekφράκτη,phráktē, "hedge") for it was located in a countryside area on the northern edge of the inhabited area of medieval Rome. The church originally belonged to Augustinian nuns.[1] It became thenational church of theScottish people in Rome, until Scotland became Protestant, when in 1585Pope Sixtus V assigned it to theMinim friars of SaintFrancis of Paola. The Scots College, the seminary for young men studying for the priesthood, was located nearby, on the Via del Tritone, until 1604, when it moved to the Via delle Quattro Fontane.[2]
In 1942Pope Pius XII elevated the church to the rank of a minor basilica.[3]
In 1604 the construction of the new church was begun, to the design of Gaspare Guerra. The project, halted eight years later, was revamped in 1653 byFrancesco Borromini, who is responsible for the apse, thetholobate of the cupola,[4] and the squarecampanile with four orders. After his death, the construction was continued byMattia De Rossi. The late Renaissance-style façade, with two orders divided bypilasters, was completed in 1826, thanks to funds provided the Testament of CardinalErcole Consalvi.[5]
The interior has a single nave with three chapels on each side, and two small chapels on either side of the entrance. The decoration of the cupola is by Pasquale Marini. Along the nave in the first chapel is a woodentempietto (temple) (1674) painted byBorgognone and on the wall is a "Baptism of Christ" ofLudovico Gimignani. In the chapel of SaintFrancis de Sales is the funeral monument of CardinalPierluigi Carafa sculpted byPietro Bracci.[6] In thecloister, the lunettes are frescoed with stories from theLife of Saint Francesco by Marini,Francesco Cozza, andFilippo Gherardi. In the transept, the altar (1736) was designed byFilippo Barigioni, the altarpiece ofSaint Francis of Paola was painted byParis Nogari, the stuccoed angels were added byGiovanni Battista Maini. The presbytery dome has a fresco of theMultiplication of the loaves and fishes by Marini. Behind the altar, is aCrucifixion of Sant'Andrea byGiovanni Battista Lenardi,[7] theEntombment of Sant'Andrea byFrancesco Trevisani, and aDeath of Saint Andrew byLazzaro Baldi.
The chapel in the left transept is dedicated toSaint Anne and was designed byLuigi Vanvitelli andGiuseppe Valadier[8] with an altarpiece ofSaints Anne, Young John the Baptist, and Mary byGiuseppe Bottani.
In the third chapel on the left, by Domenico Bartolini, is dedicated to theMadonna of the Miracle to commemorate the place where, on 20 January 1842, theBlessed Virgin Mary reportedly appeared to a young Jewish man,Maria Alphonse Ratisbonne, leading him to convert to Catholicism.[8] He later founded theCongregation of Notre-Dame de Sion (Our Lady of Sion), a group ofCatholic priests,lay brothers andReligious Sisters dedicated to work for the conversion ofJews to Catholicism. In honor of thisapparition, the pews of the church are oriented to this altar. In 1950 the chapel was completely renovated by the architectMarcello Piacentini and enriched with precious marble.[7]
In this same Bartolini Chapel, St.Maximilian Kolbe celebrated his first Mass as a Priest in 1918.[9] As Ratisbonne worked to convert Jews, St Maximilian founded the orderMilitia Immaculatae to convert sinners and enemies of the Church.[10] St Maximilian was devoted to Mary and went on to found the periodical "Knights of the Immaculata" and undertook many missions to Asia before he was martyred by the Nazis atAuschwitz.[11]
At the sides of the presbytery are two angels (1667–1699) byBernini, theAngel with the Crown of Thorns and theAngel with the Superscription. They were originally intended for thePonte Sant'Angelo, butPope Clement IX considered them too valuable to be exposed to the elements and they were later moved here and replaced on the bridge with copies.[1]
This Basilica is the seat of the cardinalatial title ofSancti Andreæ Apostoli de Hortis.
Media related toSant'Andrea delle Fratte at Wikimedia Commons
| Preceded by Sant'Anastasia al Palatino | Landmarks of Rome Sant'Andrea delle Fratte | Succeeded by Sant'Andrea della Valle |
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