| Convent of Aracoeli | |
|---|---|
Convento di Santa Maria in Aracoeli | |
 Convent of Aracoeli, the loggia ofPaul III | |
| Religion | |
| Affiliation | Benedictines,Friars Minor |
| Patron | St. Mary |
| Location | |
| Location | Rome,Italy |
| Administration | Diocese of Rome |
| Architecture | |
| Date established | 6th century |
| Demolished | 1886 |
TheConvent of Santa Maria in Aracoeli, also calledConvent of Aracoeli and formerly known asConvent of Santa Maria in Capitolio, was a historic monastic complex ofmedieval origin inRome,Italy, which first belonged to theOrder of Saint Benedict and then to theFranciscans.
Located on theCapitolium, next to thebasilica of the same name, it was demolished in 1886 during the construction of theVittoriano, after a history of more than a millennium. In the same period, another Franciscan convent was built next to the staircase, bearing the same name but much smaller than the historical one.
The only remnant of the convent is the 16th-century loggia located on the right side of the basilica at the end of a staircase, with the portico giving access from the basilica.
The convent arose in the templar area which also included theTemple of Jupiter Capitoline, and probably dates back to the 6th century.[1] It was built on the ruins of a former imposing complex of monuments that was destroyed by theVandals in the 5th century. Gradually, these ruins were replaced by the Basilica and the Convent of Aracoeli, which were built by reusing some of the same construction material. Starting from the 10th century, theRule of Saint Benedict was observed at the convent.
In the 13th century,Saint Francis of Assisi may have found refuge in the convent during his stays in Rome.[2] For this reason, as well as for its central position within the city, a few years after the Saint's death, the convent became the main Roman seat of the nascentFranciscan order of Friars Minor. In 1250,Pope Innocent IV entrusted the complex, including the adjoining basilica, to the Franciscans. From this moment on, the institution maintained an increasing cooperation with the Municipality of Rome, which was based in the adjacent Piazza del Campidoglio. In 1310, the Franciscans opened astudium, which operated as a university institute from 1421 to 1444.[3] In 1444, withPope Eugene IV, the convent changed from theConventual Franciscans to theObservant Minors; in 1517, it became the Generalate of the latter, a role it held until the definitive demolition of the convent in 1886. Nonetheless, the institution always maintained the connotation of a center of culture and teaching, since it was the seat of a seminary for novices and a hospice for scholars.
The convent was gradually expanded to include three cloisters. In 1535, the papal villa commonly calledTower of Paul III (named for the Pope who ordered its construction:Paul III) was built close to the edifice. Another addition was the elevated walkway calledArco San Marco, which connected the convent with Palazzetto San Marco (nowPalazzetto Venezia), part of Palazzo di San Marco (nowPalazzo Venezia).
Monastery activities included hospitality and care of the sick. Since the Middle Ages, it also housed a vast library, which by the 19th century contained over 17,000 volumes, including manuscripts. This rich library, re-founded in 1733 and calledBibliotheca Aracoelitana (orEvoriana, fromÉvora, Portugal, the city of origin of its founder, the FranciscanJosé Ribeiro da Fonseca[4]) was open to the public.
In 1798, during thefirst French invasion, the convent was deconsecrated and used as a stable; with the advent of theNapoleonic government (1810–1815), it became the seat of theAccademia di San Luca for a short time.[5]
In 1873—soon after theunification of Italy, when many religious orders were suppressed and several ecclesiastical buildings and assets confiscated—theItalian State expropriated the complex and used it as the headquarters of the traffic police. Finally, in 1886, the monastery was almost entirely demolished to make way for theVittoriano, thereby ending a more-than-millennial history.[6]