| Sant'Eustachio | |
|---|---|
| Basilica of Saint Eustace | |
Basilica di Sant'Eustachio | |
 View of the Basilica Sant'Eustachio | |
 Click on the map for a fullscreen view | |
| 41°53′55″N12°28′33″E / 41.8987°N 12.4757°E /41.8987; 12.4757 | |
| Location | Via di Sant'Eustachio,Rome |
| Country | Italy |
| Language | Italian |
| Denomination | Catholic |
| History | |
| Status | Minor basilica,titular church |
| Founded | by the 8th century AD |
| Dedication | Saint Eustace |
| Architecture | |
| Architectural type | Romanesque,Baroque |
| Administration | |
| Diocese | Rome |
Sant'Eustachio ([santeuˈstaːkjo]) is a Roman Catholictitular church andminor basilica in Rome, named for the martyrSaint Eustace. It is located on Via di Sant'Eustachio in therione Sant'Eustachio, a block west of thePantheon and via della Rotonda, and a block east ofSant'Ivo alla Sapienza and the Via della Dogana Vecchia.
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A church at the site was founded by the 8th century. The church was recorded as adiaconia (a centre for helping the poor and the sick) at the end of the pontificate ofPope Gregory II (715-731). It is mentioned in some documents dating from the 10th and 11th centuries, where this church is calledin platana (between theplane trees) referring to the tree planted in the garden of the martyr Eustace. However, tradition holds that the emperorConstantine I had previously built anoratory here. This church was called "ad Pantheon in regione nona e iuxta templum Agrippae" (at the Pantheon in the ninthrione and next to the temple of Agrippa").
The church was restored and had a newcampanile added at the end of the 12th century during the pontificate ofCelestine III (1191–1198), who also deposited the putative relics of Eustace and his family in the church.[1][2] In the 16th century, it was a favored praying-place for StPhilip Neri. In the 17th and 18th centuries it was almost completely rebuilt, with only the campanile remaining from the old structure. The new design, in the RomanBaroque style, was produced by several architects : Cesare Corvara and Giovanni Battista Contini (1641–1723), who added chapels and theportico, Antonio Canevari (1681–1750),Nicola Salvi (1697–1751) and finally, from 1728, Giovanni Domenico Navone. The new high altar, in bronze andpolychrome marble, was added by Nicola Salvi in 1739 and in 1749Ferdinando Fuga put abaldachin over it. The choir and the sacristy were designed by Canevari and built by Giovanni Moscati.
The façade was built under the direction of Cesare Corvara († 1703) with the collaboration of other architects. It consists of two sections, with the upper section standing back. The lower part is marked with fourpilasters and two columns, all withIoniccapitals with in the middle of each capital a small head of a deer. The spirals of thevolutes are connected by a smalllaurel wreath. On the right side of the facade a plaque was placed in memory of the flood of theTiber River in 1495, whose waters reached up to the basilica.
The top section is divided by four pilasters with on each side a large volute. In the middle is a large window with anarcuated cornice, flanked on each side by a niche adorned with shells. On top is a triangularpediment with in its middle acircular window surrounded with palm branches and surmounted by a crown. On top of the pediment stands a deer head with a cross between the antlers (done by the sculptor Paolo Morelli († 1719), in reference to the legend of Saint Eustace.
An iron gate, made by Gian Battista Contini, closes off the porch.
The squareRomanesquecampanile is situated on the back of the church at its left side. Construction was started in 1196 under the pontificate of Pope Celestine III. The top part can be dated back to the end of the 12th century, while the base is somewhat older and can be dated at ca. 1090.
The interior has acruciform architectural plan and consists of a singlenave. Its construction was carried out in matureBaroque style under the supervision of the architectsCesare Corvara andAntonio Canevari. The nave is marked on each side by three pilasters resting on a broad base. The pilasters are decked withfluted white marble and surmounted bycomposite capitals.
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Therib vault is stuccoed with flowers and leaves. The crossing is covered with a dome with a representation of theHoly Spirit in its middle.
The main altar was commissioned by CardinalNeri Corsini and designed by the architect Nicola Salvi. He made it into an elegant and refined synthesis of marble and gilded metal. The top of the altar rests on an urn inporphyryrosso antico, the costly stone of the ancients, that contains the putative relics of Saint Eustace. The altarpiece was painted in 1727 byFrancesco Ferdinandi (1679–1740), also named "l'Imperiali". It represents the martyrdom of Saint Eustace and his family who were roasted to death inside a bronze statue of a bull or an ox, in the year AD 118. The gilded woodenbaldachin (circa 1746) over the main altar is attributed to Ferdinando Fuga (1699–1781).
The rear of the church is almost completely covered with the organ, made by Johann Conrad Werle in 1767. The gilded balustrade and the wooden front of the organ were executed inRococo style by Bernardino Mammucari, Francesco Michetti and Carlo Pacilli. Above the organ stands a glass window representing "thePenitent Magdalene", realized in the last decade of the 19th century by Gabriel and Louis Gesta di Tolosa.
Thepulpit was executed in polychrome marble and dates from 1937 to commemorate Pope Benedict XV (1914-1922) who as Cardinal Giacoma della Chiesa frequently preached in this church. His mother, Marquesa della Chiesa lived in the apartments across the street from the church.
The following were Cardinal Deacons of S. Eustachio:[3][4][5][6][7][8]
Media related toSant'Eustachio at Wikimedia Commons
| Preceded by Sant'Eugenio | Landmarks of Rome Sant'Eustachio | Succeeded by Santa Francesca Romana, Rome |
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