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Santo Stefano degli Ungheresi (alsoSan Stefanino andSanto Stefano degli Unni) was the church of theHungarians inRome. Located next to theVatican, the old church was pulled down in 1778,[1] to make room for an extension ofSt. Peter's Basilica.
Churches in the Vatican City in 1748
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Demolished churches
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The church of Santo Stefano was established byCharlemagne in the 9th century. It was a basilical building with threenaves. The eight granite columns supporting the roof were Romanspolia. The church was granted toKing Stephen I in 1000 byPope Sylvester II. The first Christian king of theMagyars received his crown from the Pope that year.
Stephen restored and enlarged the old building. He established achapter house for twelvecanons and a pilgrim's hostel for Hungarian travelers (predecessor of present-dayCasa di Santo Stefano). The "Hungarian institutions", as they were called, played an important part in maintaining intensive diplomatic relations between medievalHungary and the Holy See. They were also a place of learning for Hungarian clerics and intellectuals living in Rome.
Around the chapter house and the pilgrim's hostel, there were farm buildings like granaries, store-yards, and mills. The whole complex was surrounded by a wall.
The "Hungarian institutions" were sustained by the income of large estates in the vicinity of Rome. These estates, granted to Stephen I by the Pope, remained in the possession of theKingdom of Hungary for hundreds of years. The last one inCelsano was only lost after World War II.
King Stephen I was canonized in 1083, and the church was dedicated to him under the name "Santo Stefano dei Ungheresi". It was restored bySigismund of Luxemburg, King of Hungary, in the 15th century. Later, it was entrusted to thePauline Fathers, the onlymonastical order founded by Hungarians.
In the 16th century, the nearbySt. Peter's Basilica was rebuilt inRenaissance style and it was greatly enlarged. The Hungarian chapter house and the farm-buildings were pulled down to make way for the new basilica.
In 1778, PopePius VI built a new sacristy for St. Peter's and expropriated the old church of Santo Stefano. The Pope gave 7500scudi for theCollegium Germanicum et Hungaricum as compensation for the loss. Hungarians lost theirnational church in Rome, but unofficiallySanto Stefano Rotondo onCaelian Hill - whose titular is not King St. Stephen, but the latter's ownpatron saint - took over this role. Pius VI built a new chapel for St Stephen of Hungary there.[1] Seven of the original Roman columns of the church were preserved in the new sacristy of St. Peter's.
A funerary altar of Titus Flavius Athenaeus was found in Santo Stefano degli Ungheresi and transferred to the Germanic-Hungarian College; it is now in theUffizi.[2]
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