St. ATHANASIUS OF THE GREEKS

S. ATANASIO DEI GRECI

Via del Babuino 149

1580/81 Giacomo Della Porta (1533/1602) for Gregory XIII Boncompagni (1572/85) who established the Congregation of the Greeks for the communities that followed the Greek-Albanian rite in Southern Italy

It was consecrated only in 1583 and the decoration was completed only in 1591

The trichora plant (rectangular room with apses on three sides) follows the byzantine schemes

Greek Catholic Church officiated with the Byzantine rite in Greek

FAÇADE

Maybe completed by Martino Longhi the Elder (1534/91)

With its two towers echoes the nearby and almost contemporary church SS. Trinità dei Monti

CHAPEL ON THE RIGHT

Altarpiece “Annunciation” about 1583 by Francesco Traballesi (active second half of the sixteenth century)

On the left “Tomb of the priest Demetrius Falereo” d. 1664 with the painting “Head of Christ between two executioners” of the sixteenth century by an unknown artist of the German school, improbably attributed to Albrecht Dürer (1471/1528)

APSE ON THE RIGHT

Altarpiece “Assumption and Coronation of the Virgin Mary” began in 1585 and ended only in 1591, maybe early work by Giuseppe Cesari aka Cavalier d'Arpino (1568/1640)

In a glass case there is the mechanism of the clock tower dating back to 1710. The clock is externally facing the Greek College

MAIN ALTAR

Great “Iconostasis in wood” 1876 by Andrea Busiri Vici (1818/1911)

It replaced the original iconostasis painted by Traballesi whose fragments are now kept in the refectory of the Collegio Greco

APSE ON THE LEFT

“Crucifixion with Mary and St. John” by Giuseppe Cesari aka Cavalier d'Arpino

CHAPEL ON THE LEFT

Altarpiece “Jesus among the doctors” by Francesco Traballesi (active second half of the sixteenth century)

COLLEGIO GRECO (Greek College)

To the left of the church

1796 Carlo Puri De Marchis

St. ATHANASIUS OF ALEXANDRIA

S. ATANASIO

Via Achille Benedetti 11 - Pietralata

1961 Ernesto Vichi (1917/2009)

Sculptures “St. John the Baptist” on the baptismal font on the right and “Our Lady of Csurgo” by the Hungarian Amerigo Tot (1909/84)

St. Athanasius of Alexandria lived in the fourth century and is considered by the Catholic Church among the 35 Doctors of the Church. Even the Coptic Church and the Orthodox one venerate him as a saint

A relic of him is preserved in this church

Since 1982, on the third weekend of May, the Palio Race of the Seven Contrades of St. Athanasius is held during the popular religious festival of this neighborhood with about 15,000 inhabitants

S. APOLLINARIS

S. APOLLINARE

Piazza S. Apollinare 49

Built after the year 638 on the site where the Ludi Apollinares, games in honor of Apollo, used to be held in antiquity

Rebuilt in 1741/48 by Ferdinando Fuga (1699/1782)

The saint of the first century Apollinaris was a native of Antioch in Syria and was the first bishop of Ravenna

VESTIBULE

Much venerated “Image of Our Lady” of the fifteenth century by an artist of the Umbrian-Roman school

This image of the Virgin Mary in 1494 was covered with lime to hide it from the ravages of the soldiers of Charles VIII and was rediscovered by chance in the earthquake of 1648

VAULT

“Glory of S. Apollinare” 1746 by the Roman Stefano Pozzi (1699/1768)

1^st RIGHT - CHAPEL OF S. LUIGI GONZAGA

Altarpiece “S. Luigi Gonzaga” by Ludovico Mazzanti (1686/1775)

2^nd RIGHT - CHAPEL OF St. JOSEPH

Altarpiece “Holy Family” by Giacomo Zoboli (1681/1767)

3^rd RIGHT - CHAPEL OF S. FRANCIS XAVIER

Statue of “St. Francis Xavier” by the extraordinary French sculptor Pierre Legros (1666/1719)

The original statue was holding a crucifix now disappeared

At the saint's feet there is a bronze crab in reference to the miracle that would have taken place in Indonesia during a storm that had caught S. Francis Xavier on board a small boat

During his prayers he tried to touch the stormy sea with a small crucifix that, however, slipped out of his hand

The next day, landed safely on the island of Ceram, he saw a crab approaching him on the beach with his crucifix between its claws

Some scholars doubt the likelihood of this miracle and think it was copied from a Buddhist story, some others even believe that it was Buddhism that took this miracle for itself

MAIN ALTAR

Canvas “St. Apollinaris” by the Bolognese Ercole Graziani (1688/1765)

Above the pediment of the altar “Angels” in marble 1746 by Bernardino Ludovisi (about 1713/49)

“Crucifix and candlesticks” by Luigi Valadier (1726/85)

3^rd LEFT - CHAPEL OF St. IGNATIUS OF LOYOLA

Statue of “St. Ignatius of Loyola” by Carlo Marchionni (1702/86)

2^nd LEFT - CHAPEL OF S. JOSEMARÍA ESCRIVÁ DE BALAGUER

S. Josemaría Escrivá de Balaguer (1902/75) was the founder of the Opus Dei

Recent painting by Angelo Zarcone

1^st LEFT - CHAPEL OF St. JOHN OF NEPOMUK

Altarpice “Mary and St. John of Nepomuk” by Placido Costanzi (1702/59)

In the church is buried the composer Giacomo Carissimi (1605/74) from Marino, who was here the chapel's composer

SACRISTY

The relic of an arm of St. Apollinaris is kept here. The rest of the body is buried in Ravenna

Palazzo di S. Apollinare

Palace of St. Apollinaris

Home of cardinals since the fourteenth century

From 1574 to 1773 it was the seat of the German Hungarian College

Restored in the years 1745/48 by Ferdinando Fuga

It now houses the PONTIFICIA UNIVERSITÀ DELLA SANTA CROCE (Pontifical University of the Holy Cross) owned by the Opus Dei

An extra floor was added in 1853

In the CHAPEL paintings maybe by Andrea Pozzo (1642/1709)

St. ANTHONY OF THE PORTOGUESE

S. ANTONIO DEI PORTOGHESI

Via dei Portoghesi 2

In 1439 a hospice for Portuguese pilgrims was founded here with the financial contribution of Cardinal Antonio Martinez de Chaves

In 1539 the church of the hospice was dedicated to St. Anthony of Padua (1195/1231). In Portugal, where he was born and raised, he is known as St. Anthony of Lisbon

It was rebuilt in the years 1630/38 by Martino Longhi the Younger (1602/60) who designed the FAÇADE, the first job he ever did. He directed the works until 1657

The reconstruction continued in the years 1674/76 with Carlo Rainaldi (1611/91) who finished the DOME

The works were completed in 1696 by Cristoforo Schor (1655/1701) who finished Longhi's façade

It is the Portuguese national church

The outer gate of 1869 was designed by Francesco Vespignani (1842/99)

“We don't have documentary sources that allow us to understand the character of the ancient church before the seventeenth century renovation also because, with the sack of Rome in 1527, the archives of the church were devastated. However, an engraving by Girolamo Francino reproduces the fifteenth century façade showing decorative simplicity. (...) A map of Rome in 1551, designed by Leonardo Bufalini, shows the church plant. The building had a semicircular apse, no transept and the space of the nave was marked by two rows of columns. During 2005, on the initiative of the members of the Portuguese Institute, the right side of the church was studied and, under the plaster of the new construction, walls of the fifteenth century church were revealed. Due to these findings, it was demonstrated that the changes undergone by the church over time did not affect the structure of the perimeter wall of the nave, but took on from the previously existing building” (Agnese Iori - Web site of S. Antonio dei Portoghesi - www.ipsar.org)