Three Fountains Abbey
Monastery
founded about 625 by order of Honorius I (625/638) and held by Greek monks. It
reached maximum wealth in the eighth and ninth
century
In the
second half of the eleventh century it was given to the Benedictines
From
1140 it was rebuilt, given to the Cistercians and completed in 1221
In the
seventeenth century the churches S. Maria Scala Coeli and S. Paolo were built
but later the monastery was abandoned
From the
1867 there was a revival with the Trappist fathers
ARCH OF
CHARLEMAGNE
Eighth
or ninth century, gateway to the monastery with frescoes from the twelfth or
thirteenth century now almost completely disappeared: there are just traces of
evangelists and saints
Painted
to commemorate the donation of a property in the Tuscan Maremma, made by Pope
Leo III (795/816) and Charlemagne to the Abbey in the year 805, for the
miraculous intercession of the relics of St. Anastasio: they were believed to
have contributed to the conquest of Ansedonia
Sts. Vincent & Anastasius
625 for
Honorius I to preserve the relics of St. Anastasio and, from the eighth
century, also of St. Vincent. They were later transferred to the church
dedicated to them in Piazza di Trevi
Reconstructed
and completed in 1221 for Honorius III Savelli (1216/27)
Restoration
1868
To the
left of the church MONASTIC BUILDINGS that cannot be visited belonging to the
Trappist monks. Cloister of the twelfth century, chapter house and refectory
Frescoes
including a “Calendar of months”
Our Lady Stairway to Heaven
1581/84 Giacomo Della Porta (1533/1602) for Cardinal
Alessandro Farnese, and, after his death in 1584, for the Cardinal Pietro
Aldobrandini
According
to tradition it was here that St. Zeno and his 10,203 companions were martyred
in 298 after having built the Baths of Diocletian
The name
derives from the vision that St. Bernard of Clairvaux had in 1138 while
celebrating mass: a long stairway to heaven climbed by a sinner for whose soul
the saint had prayed to Our Lady, who awaited him at the top of the steps,
indicating that the request was granted
THREE
ALTARS
Dedicated
to St. Zeno, the Virgin and St. Bernardo
APSE
Mosaic “Saints
and Doctors of the Church with Clement VIII Aldobrandini (1592/1605) and his
nephew Cardinal Pietro Aldobrandini” by Francesco
Zucchi (about 1562/1622) 1591 from a design by Giovanni
De Vecchi (about 1537/1615)
CRYPT
Altar
dedicated to St. Paul and St. Zeno
At the
sides of the altar little windows from which two rooms can be seen: to the left
“Altar of the goddess Dia”, to the right room where, according to tradition,
St. Paul was imprisoned
St. Paul
Maybe
fifth century. According to tradition on the site of the martyrdom of St. Paul
on 68 AD. Rebuilt 1599/1601 by Giacomo Della Porta
for Cardinal Pietro Aldobrandini
Statues
on the pediment “St. Peter” and “St. Paul” by Nicolas
Cordier (1567/1612)
APSE
Three
niches with columns of black marble of Chios and fountains by Giacomo Della Porta where the springs of Acque
Salvie (one hot, one warm and one cold) gushed. They have been closed in
1950 due to pollution
Between
the first and second kiosk “Column of the beheading” to which St. Paul would
have been bound for his martyrdom
RIGHT
CHAPEL
“Decapitation
of St. Paul” by Bartolomeo Passerotti (1529/92)
LEFT
CHAPEL
Copy of
the “Crucifixion of St. Peter” of the years 1604/05 by Guido Reni. The
original, now in the Vatican Paintings Gallery,
was painted for this church
