Santa Maria in Ara Coeli
Basilica of Saint Mary of the Altar in Heaven | ||
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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 |
The Basilica of Saint Mary of the Altar in Heaven (
The shrine is known for housing relics belonging to
History
Originally the church was named Sancta Maria in Capitolio, since it was sited on the
In The History of Money, anthropologist Jack Weatherford goes into some detail about the church's previous incarnation as the temple of Juno Moneta—on the Arx—after whom Money is named.
According to Roman historians, in the fourth century B.C., the irritated honking of the sacred geese around Juno's temple on Capitoline Hill warned the people of an impending night attack by the Gauls, who were secretly scaling the walls of the citadel. From this event, the goddess acquired [the] surname-Juno Moneta, from Latin monere (to warn) . . . As patroness of the state, Juno Moneta presided over various activities of the state, including the primary activity of issuing money...from Moneta came the modem English words mint and money and, ultimately, from the Latin word meaning warning.
Today, the site of the Temple of Juno Moneta, the source of the great stream of Roman currency, has given way to the ancient . . . brick church of Santa Maria in Aracoeli. Centuries ago, church architects incorporated the ruins of the ancient temple into the new building.[3]
The church is also thought to have replaced the auguraculum, the seat of the augurs.
The foundation of the church was laid on the site of a
During the Middle Ages, this church became the centre of the religious and civil life of the city. It was here in 1341 that Petrarch was proclaimed Poet laureate.[5] During the republican experience of the 14th century, when self-proclaimed Tribune and reviver of the Roman Republic Cola di Rienzo inaugurated the monumental stairway of 124 steps in front of the church, designed in 1348 by Simone Andreozzi, on the occasion of the Black 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 honoring
Exterior
The original unfinished façade lost the mosaics and subsequent frescoes that originally decorated it, save a mosaic in the tympanum 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.
Interior
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 are Pinturicchio's 15th-century frescoes depicting the life of Saint Bernardino of Siena in the Bufalini Chapel, the first chapel on the right. Other features are the wooden ceiling, the inlaid cosmatesque floor, a Transfiguration painted on wood by Girolamo Siciolante da Sermoneta, and works by other artists like Pietro Cavallini (of his frescoes only one survives), Benozzo Gozzoli, and Giulio Romano.
It also houses the Madonna Aracoeli (Our Lady of the Golden Hands), a Byzantine icon of the 10-11th century, in the altar. This Marian image was Pontifically crowned on 29 March 1636 by Pope Urban VIII. Pope Pius XII consecrated the people of Rome to the Most Blessed Virgin Mary and her Immaculate Heart in front of this image on 30 May 1948. In the transept there is a sepulchral monument by Arnolfo di Cambio.
The church was also famous in Rome for the wooden statue of the
The relics of
Burials
- Catherine of Bosnia, Bosnian Queen[7]
- Pope Honorius IV, son of Luca Savelli
- Brother Juniper, one of the original followers of Saint Francis of Assisi
- Giulio Salvadori, the poet[8]
- Luca Savelli, right transept, left side
- Giovanna Aldobransdeschi dei Conti di Santa Fiora, wife of Luca Savelli, right transept, right side
- Cardinal Matteo d'Acquasparta[9]
- Carlo Crivelli, Archdeacon of Acquilea, sculpted by Donatello[2]
- Cardinal Louis d'Albret (Lodovico Lebretto)
- Fillipo Della Valle, fifth chapel on left
- Cardinal Giovanni Battista Savelli[10]
- Cardinal Pietro di Vicenti, passage to side door
- Pietro Della Valle, Italian traveler, and Sitti Maani, his wife from Baghdad
- Federico di Sanseverino Cardinal (d. 1516)
Curiosities
- The church also contains the marble tomb of Cecchino Bracci, pupil of artist Michelangelowho had dedicated a number of poems in his name. The tomb's design (not the carving) is by Michelangelo.
- A part of the last mission of the game Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood takes place in this basilica, which the Assassins discover has been built on top of an ancient Isu temple.
- In this church, football player Francesco Totti and Ilary Blasi celebrated their marriage in 2005, followed by thousands of fans.[11]
- It was this church where Edward Gibbon was struck with the idea to write his Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire. "It was at Rome, on the 15th of October 1764," he wrote in his "Autobiography", "as I sat musing amid the ruins of the capitol, while the bare-footed friars were singing vespers in the temple of Jupiter [Gibbon was mistaken; this church was actually the former Temple of Juno Moneta], that the idea of writing the decline and fall of the city first started to my mind.” [12]
See also
References
- ^ Rodolfo Lanciani, Pagan and Christian Rome, ch 1 "The Transformation of Rome from a Pagan to a Christian City"
- ^ a b c "The Basilica of Santa Maria in Aracoeli", Turismo Roma, Major Events, Sport, Tourism and Fashion Department
- ISBN 9780609801727.
- ^ a b Lang, Peter. "Santa Maria in Aracoeli", University of Washington
- ISBN 0-618-12738-0
- ^ Ingrid D. Rowland (2012) Anachronic Renaissance, Konsthistorisk tidskrift/ Journal of Art History, 81:3, 172-177, DOI: 10.1080/00233609.2012.706234
- ISBN 978-9537036553
- ^ M. Gianturco, Giulio Salvadori (Milan, 1930)
- ^ Lorenzo Cardella, Memorie de' Cardinali della Santa Romana Chiesa (Rome 1793), p. 30.
- ^ Renascence: The Sculptured Tombs of the Fifteenth Century in Rome, by Gerald Stanley Davies, page 250.
- Heavy.com. Retrieved 29 May 2018.
- ^ "Italian History".
Bibliography
- Johanna Elfriede Louise Heideman, The cinquecento chapel decorations in S. Maria in Aracoeli in Rome, Academische Pers, 1982.
External links
- Riccardo Cigola, "Basilica di Santa Maria in Aracoeli"
- Rodolfo Lanciani, Pagan and Christian Rome, ch 1 "The Transformation of Rome from a Pagan to a Christian City"
Media related to Santa 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 |