| Basilica of Saint Mary of the Altar in Heaven | |
|---|---|
 Façade of the Basilica with the Ara Coeli staircase and the adjacentMonumento a Vittorio Emanuele II | |
 Click on the map for a fullscreen view | |
| 41°53′38″N12°29′00″E / 41.8939°N 12.4833°E /41.8939; 12.4833 | |
| Location | Scala dell'Arce Capitolina 12,Rome |
| Country | Italy |
| Denomination | Catholic |
| Tradition | Latin Church |
| Religious order | Franciscan Friars Minor |
| Website | Official Website |
| History | |
| Status | Minor basilica Titular church Conventual church Regional church |
| Founded | 7th cent |
| Dedication | MaryQueen of Heaven |
| Cult(s) present | Santo Bambino of Aracoeli |
| Relics held | |
| Architecture | |
| Style | Romanesque,Gothic |
| Completed | 12th century |
| Specifications | |
| Length | 80 metres (260 ft) |
| Width | 45 metres (148 ft) |
| Nave width | 20 metres (66 ft) |
| Clergy | |
| Cardinal protector | Salvatore De Giorgi |
TheBasilica of Saint Mary of the Altar in Heaven (Latin:Basilica Sanctae Mariae de Ara Cœli in Capitolio,Italian:Basilica di Santa Maria in Ara Cœli al Campidoglio) is atitularbasilica andconventual church of theFranciscanConvent of Aracoeli located the highest summit of theCapitoline Hill inRome,Italy. From 1250-1798 it was the headquarters of the General Curia of theOrder of Friars Minor as well as being one of the city's principal civic churches. It is still the designated church of the city council of Rome, which uses the ancient title ofSenatus Populusque Romanus. The presentcardinal priest of theTitulus Sanctae Mariae de Aracoeli isSalvatore De Giorgi.
The shrine is known for housing relics belonging toHelena, mother ofEmperor Constantine, various minor relics from theHoly Sepulchre, both the pontifically crowned images ofNostra Signora di Mano di Oro di Aracoeli (1636) on the high altar and theSanto Bambino of Aracoeli (1897). It is also famous for the exquisitePinturicchio frescos in theBufalini Chapel on the right hand side of the west doors.
The church stands on theArx, the northern of the two peaks of the Capitoline hill, at an elevation of c. 48 m above sea level.[1] In antiquity, this was the site of theTemple of Juno Moneta, but no remains of the temple have been certainly identified, and its precise location is a subject of debate.[2] The ancient walls discovered in the cellars beneath the church appear to belong chiefly to shops and houses,[1] and some scholars have argued that temple itself was situated in the garden to the southeast of the church, where other walls of tufa and concrete are visible.[3]
The foundation of the church was laid on the site of aByzantine abbey mentioned in 574. Many buildings were built around the first church; in the upper part they gave rise to a cloister, while on the slopes of the hill a little quarter and a market grew up. Remains of these buildings - such as the little church of San Biagio de Mercato and the underlying "Insula Romana") - were discovered in the 1930s.At first the church followed the Greek rite, a sign of the power of the Byzantine exarch. Taken over by the papacy by the 9th century, the church was given first to theBenedictines, then, by papal bull to theFranciscans in 1249–1250;[4] under the Franciscans it received itsRomanesque-Gothic aspect. The arches that divide thenave from the aisles are supported on columns, no two precisely alike, scavenged from Roman ruins.
Originally the church was namedSancta Maria in Capitolio, since it was sited on theCapitoline Hill (Campidoglio, inItalian) of Ancient Rome; by the 14th century it had been renamed. A medieval legend included in the mid-12th-century guide toRome,Mirabilia Urbis Romae, claimed that the church was built over anAugustanAra primogeniti Dei, in the place where theTiburtine Sibyl prophesied to Augustus the coming of theChrist. "For this reason the figures of Augustus and of the Tiburtine sibyl are painted on either side of the arch above the high altar".[5] Its name originates from a legend according to which a sibyl predicted the coming of the son of God to Augustus by saying: "Haec est ara Filii Dei" (This is the altar of the son of God): hence the name Ara Coeli.[6]
During the Middle Ages, this church became the centre of the religious and civil life of the city. It was here in 1341 thatPetrarch was proclaimedPoet laureate.[7] During the republican experience of the 14th century, when self-proclaimed Tribune and reviver of the Roman RepublicCola di Rienzo inaugurated the monumental stairway of 124 steps in front of the church, designed in 1348 by Simone Andreozzi, on the occasion of theBlack Death. Condemned criminals were executed at the foot of the steps; there Cola di Rienzo met his death, near the spot where his statue commemorates him.
In 1571, Santa Maria in Aracoeli hosted the celebrations honoringMarcantonio Colonna after the victoriousBattle of Lepanto over the Turkish fleet. Marking this occasion, the compartmented ceiling was gilded and painted (finished 1575), to thank the Blessed Virgin for the victory. In 1797, during the French occupation and theRoman Republic, the basilica was deconsecrated and turned into a stable. It was almost demolished in the 1880s during the construction of the nearbyVittoriano.[6]
The original unfinished façade lost the mosaics and subsequent frescoes that originally decorated it, save a mosaic in thetympanum of the main door, one of three doors that were later additions. The gothic window is the primary detail that tourists observe from the bottom of the stairs; it is the only authentically Gothic detail of the basilica.
The basilica is built as a nave and two aisles that are divided by Roman columns, which were taken from diverse antique monuments and are all different.[4] Among its numerous treasures arePinturicchio's 15th-century frescoes depicting the life of SaintBernardino of Siena in theBufalini Chapel, the first chapel on the right. Other features are the wooden ceiling, the inlaidcosmatesque floor, aTransfiguration painted on wood byGirolamo Siciolante da Sermoneta, and works by other artists likePietro Cavallini (of his frescoes only one survives),Benozzo Gozzoli, andGiulio Romano.
It also houses theMadonna Aracoeli (Our Lady of the Golden Hands), aByzantine icon of the 10-11th century, in thealtar. This Marian image was Pontificallycrowned on 29 March 1636 byPope Urban VIII.Pope Pius XIIconsecrated the people of Rome to theMost Blessed Virgin Mary and herImmaculate Heart in front of this image on 30 May 1948. In thetransept there is a sepulchral monument byArnolfo di Cambio.
The church was also famous in Rome for the wooden statue of theSanto Bambino of Aracoeli, carved in the 15th century of olive wood from theGarden of Gethsemane and covered with valuableex-votos. Many Romans believed in the spiritual efficacy of devotion to this statue. TheFrench took the statue in 1797, it was then recovered, and then stolen again in February 1994. A copy was made from wood fromGethsemane,[8] which copy is presently displayed in its own chapel near the sacristy. At midnight Mass onChristmas Eve the image is brought out to a throne before the high altar and unveiled at theGloria. UntilEpiphany the bejeweled image resides in the Nativity crib in the left nave of the basilica.
The relics ofHelena, mother ofConstantine the Great, are housed in the basilica, as is the tablet with themonogram of Jesus thatBernardino of Siena used to promotedevotion to the Holy Name of Jesus.
Media related toSanta Maria in Aracoeli (Rome) at Wikimedia Commons
| Preceded by Santa Maria in Domnica | Landmarks of Rome Santa Maria in Ara Coeli | Succeeded by Santa Maria del Popolo |
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Geographic | |
