| Sant'Apollinare | |
|---|---|
| Sant'Apollinare alle Terme Neroniane-Alessandrine | |
 Facade Sant'Apollinare | |
 Click on the map for a fullscreen view | |
| 41°54′3.2″N12°28′25″E / 41.900889°N 12.47361°E /41.900889; 12.47361 | |
| Location | Via Romea Sud, 224,Rome |
| Country | Italy |
| Denomination | Roman Catholic |
| Website | basilica |
| History | |
| Status | Minor basilica |
| Founded | 7th Century |
| Dedication | Apollinaris of Ravenna |
| Events | Station church for the Thursday of the fifth week in Lent. |
| Architecture | |
| Architect | Ferdinando Fuga |
| Style | Baroque |
| Groundbreaking | 7th century |
| Completed | 1748 |
| Administration | |
| Diocese | Rome |
TheBasilica di Sant'Apollinare alle Terme Neroniane-Alessandrine ("Basilica ofSaint Apollinaris at theBaths of Nero") is atitular church inRome, Italy, dedicated to StApollinare, the first bishop ofRavenna.
The church is part of a large complex that has hosted a number of institutions, including theCollegium Germanicum et Hungaricum, thePontifical Roman Seminary, and thePontifical Institute of Sant’Apollinare. It is currently the seat of thePontifical University of the Holy Cross.
It is thestation church for the Thursday of the fifth week inLent.[1]
Sant'Apollinare was founded byPope Hadrian I around 780, on the remains of pre-existing Roman buildings.[2] It is first mentioned in theLiber Pontificalis under Pope Hadrian, usingspolia from the ruins of an imperial building. The first priests who served the church were probably easternBasilian monks who had fled from persecution during theiconoclast period.[3]
In 1284 a Chapter of Canons held the church. It is listed in the Catalogue of Turin as a papal chapel with eight clerics and became a parish church in 1562. In 1574 it was granted to theJesuits byPope Gregory XIII, and it was used as the church of the next-door Collegium Germanicum in the Palazzo di Sant'Apollinare, which was later united with the Hungarian College to form theCollegium Germanicum et Hungaricum.[4] This remained a Jesuit institution until the suppression of the Jesuits in 1773 when this church passed to theLazarists.
In the late 17th century, the church was in a poor state of repair. Its rebuilding was considered over a long period but wasn't carried out, probably due to the lack of funds. Despite this, in 1702 a chapel was redecorated and dedicated toSt Francis Xavier, and a statue of the saint was commissioned fromPierre Le Gros who carved the marble with extraordinaryvirtuosity (the statue was preserved when the church was eventually rebuilt some 40 years later and is stillin situ).[5]
Only in 1742,Pope Benedict XIV commissionedFerdinando Fuga to rebuild the church.[3]Francesco Antonio Zaccaria, writer and archaeologist, who died in 1795, was buried in the Chapel of St Ignatius of Loyola here.
In 1825 it housed was the Pontifical Roman Seminary until its relocation to theCollegio Romano in 1848. The futurePope Pius X was consecrated a bishop in Sant’Apollinare in 1884.[6]
In 1984 the church was elevated tominor basilica status.[7]
On 18 December 1990, the church was granted toOpus Dei, and is now part of theirPontifical University of the Holy Cross. The new Chaplain of the Opus Dei settled on 1 September 1991. On 24 April 1990, when the Church had not yet been entrusted to Opus Dei, the notorious gangsterEnrico De Pedis, boss of the so-calledBanda della Magliana, was buried in the church's crypt, by authorization of CardinalUgo Poletti. The unusual interment has been linked to the case ofEmanuela Orlandi's kidnapping and the tomb was opened for investigation in 2012.[8] With the authorisation of the Italian judiciary in accordance with the desire expressed by the widow of De Pedis, on 18 June 2012, at the end of the further investigations carried out on the burial, the body of De Pedis was moved from the basilica of Sant'Apollinare and transferred to the Prima Porta Cemetery where it was cremated. Subsequently, the ashes were dispersed into the sea.
Fuga added a new façade in the late 16th-century style, withBaroque elements. It is a typical example of the transition between Baroque and Neoclassical style.[3] It has two stories, with Ionic columns in the lower and Corinthian ones in the upper. The lower level has a central doorway flanked by windows. Above the door is a triangulartympanon. On the upper level is a large central window with a balcony, and two smaller windows to the sides. The façade is crowned by a double tympanum. Fuga also reconstructed the dome. The church as a whole was rededicated in 1748.
The church has a single nave. Along the side are pilasters withCorinthian capitals holding the arches to the side chapels. In thebarrel-vaulted ceiling is a fresco of The Glory of St Apollinaris, byStefano Pozzi.
Thehigh altar was made on orders fromPope Benedict XIV, withstucco decorations byBernardino Ludovisi and an early 17th-century altarpiece depicting St Apollinaris' Consecration as Bishop of Ravenna byErcole Graziani the Younger. It is a copy of one Graziani did previously forBologna Cathedral.[9]
The side chapels are dedicated, on the right side to San Luigi Gonzaga, San Giuseppe and San Francesco Saverio, on the left side to SaintJohn of Nepomuk (Italian:San Giovanni Nepomuceno), San Josemaría Escrivá (whose altar is surmounted by a modern painting by Angelo Zarcone) and Sant 'Ignatius of Loyola. The altarpiece of the chapel of San Giuseppe is theHoly Family (1748), a famous painting byJacopo Zoboli.
The elliptical Chapel of Graces, which is outside the church proper, is accessed through a doorway on the left. It contains a 1494 fresco of The Virgin, Queen of Apostles which, survived theSack of Rome because the priests had covered it with a lime whitewash and was then rediscovered in 1645 when two boys and a soldier took refuge in the church during an earthquake.[3] A marble frame with golden stuccocherubs was added byPeter Anton von Verschaffelt.
The churchs nave features an inlaid marble pavement naming pastcardinals, a tribute to its historical importance. Elegant 18th-centuryconfessionals are able to provide a spaces for private reflection while theorgan, situated above the entrance on a grand gallery with curved wings, adds a rich musical element to the building.[10]
The 1748 dome, layered withstucco patterns based on aGreek cross, culminates in a lantern featuring a dove representing of the Holy Spirit. The triumphal arch frames the high altar, highlighting its significance to the cathedral.[11]
The church is composed of three main sections: a wedge-shaped entrance housing the icon of Our Lady, a nave with aisles that are divided into six chapels, and apresbyterium surrounded by a saucer dome lit with a lantern. The nearby campanile has arched openings with a pyramidal top, while the adjoining palazzo includes a colonnaded courtyard andBaroque fountains, one byBernini.
The façade was completed byFuga in 1742 and combines late 16th-century with a mixture ofBaroque styles. It features Ionic and Corinthian pilasters with a grand central window.
| Preceded by Sant'Antonio da Padova in Via Merulana | Landmarks of Rome Sant'Apollinare, Rome | Succeeded by Santi Apostoli, Rome |
