St. BARTHOLOMEW ON THE ISLAND

S. BARTOLOMEO ALL'ISOLA

Piazza S. Bartolomeo all'Isola 22

In the SQUARE “Marble spire with Sts. Bartholomew, Paulinus of Nola, Francis of Assisi and John of God” 1869 by Ignazio Jacometti (1819/83) for Pius IX Mastai-Ferretti (1846/78) in place of a column destroyed by a cart that hit it in 1867

All the saints represented on the column have a connection with the Tiber Island

The church was built in the year 998 by Emperor Otto III (980/1002) on the ruins of the Temple of Aesculapius in honor of St. Adalbert, bishop of Prague martyred in that year

The emperor asked the city of Benevento for the body of St. Bartholomew but the people of Benevento pretended to accept and sent instead the body of St. Paulinus of Nola, wanting to keep the body of the apostle

Otto III became aware of the deception, Benevento was conquered and the body of St. Bartholomew brought by force to Rome

Because of the relics of St. Bartholomew the church changed name in 1180. It was originally known as Sts. Adalbert, Paulinus and Bartholomew

It was restored in 1113 with a new bell tower by Paschal II (1099/1118) and in about 1180 by Alexander III Bandinelli (1159/81)

It was destroyed by the flood of 1557, rebuilt in the years 1583/85 maybe by Martino Longhi the Elder (1534/91)

It was completely renewed in 1623/24 by Orazio Torriani (about 1601/about 1657)

Other restorations in 1739, 1852 and 1973/76

The church is connected to a Franciscan monastery

FAÇADE

Maybe by Orazio Torriani or Martino Longhi the Younger (1602/60) son of Onorio Longhi and grandson of Martino Longhi the Elder

CEILING

Paintings by Bonaventura Loffredo from the time of Pius IX Mastai-Ferretti (1846/78)

MAIN NAVE

“Ancient columns” maybe from the Temple of Aesculapius

Three fragments of the floor of the twelfth century

“Medieval marble well” maybe by Nicolò di Pietro Angelo or Vassalletto obtained from the drum of an ancient column with figures of the Saviour, Otto III and Sts. Adalbert and Bartholomew

MAIN ALTAR

Frescoes in the apse and canvas behind the altar “Martyrdom of St. Bartholomew” by the Sicilian Francesco Manno (1752/1831)

Under the altar “Old porphyry basin” with relics of St. Bartholomew who was flayed alive

Over the altar “Icon of the martyrs of the twentieth century” 2002

The church was dedicated in 2002 to the Christian martyrs of the twentieth and twenty-first century

In the six side chapels these martyrs are honored divided into four worldwide geographical areas (Africa, Spain and Mexico, Latin America and the fourth one including Asia, Oceania and the Middle East) and two chapels dedicated respectively to the martyrs killed under communist regimes and martyrs killed under the Nazi regime

TO THE RIGHT OF THE MAIN ALTAR – ORSINI CHAPEL

At the bottom left is embedded in the wall a cannonball known as “miracle ball” shot here by the French during the siege of the Roman Republic in 1849, without causing casualties, although the church was packed

In the building next to the church is the CAPPELLA DELL'ADDOLORATA (Chapel of Our Lady of Sorrow) headquarters of the Confraternita dei Sacconi Rossi (Brotherhood of the Red Big Sacks) whose members would bury people drowned in the Tiber and people abandoned unburied who had been killed by robbers

There is still an underground cemetery and a room decorated with the skeletons of some people buried here, like the Cemetery of the Capuchin Fathers in Via Veneto

St. BARBARA OF THE BOOKSELLERS

S. BARBARA DEI LIBRAI

Largo dei Librari 85

Founded in the eleventh century by the prefect Giovanni Crescenzio and his wife Rogata as written on an inscription in the church

It was made from a fornix of the Theater of Pompey perhaps testified by its ancient name in Satro corrupted form from the Latin word theatrum

It was consecrated again in 1306

At the beginning of the sixteenth century it was the national church of the English people in Rome

It was granted to the Confraternity of the Booksellers in 1601 and rebuilt in 1680 at the behest of the Florentine bookseller and printer Zenobio Masotti (1606/88)

It was restored in 1858 by Gaetano Bonoli

In 1969 it was deconsecrated and used as a warehouse

It was reopened in 1982 and restored in the years 1990/93

S. Barbara was born in Turkey to a pagan father and a Christian mother. When she decided to convert, in 306, the father reported her, and she was sentenced to death by beheading

It was her father himself who beheaded her, after a couple of days of torture. As soon as she was decapitated, lightning struck the man, killing him

S. Barbara is therefore patron saint of everything that has to do with fire and explosives

FAÇADE

1680 by Giuseppe Passeri (1654/1714), pupil of Carlo Maratta

Restored in 1858

Statue “S. Barbara” by Ambrogio Parisi

ENTRANCE NAVE

In the vault fresco “Glory of St. Barbara” by Luigi Garzi (1638/1721) from Pistoia, a pupil of Andrea Sacchi and later influenced by Carlo Maratta

“One can consider Luigi Garzi as a not so well known artist, parallel to the action carried out by Carlo Maratta, but with interesting differences and a more prolonged participation in the eighteenth century. (...) He shows a Frenchified style, original for his time, supported in particular by Poussin and more generally by the contemporary works of transalpine cousins. The stately results of this art style, however, is tempered by his cute miniatures details, anticipating similar results already fully belonging to the eighteenth century” (Giancarlo Sestieri)

On the right triptych “Madonna and Child with Sts. John the Baptist and the Archangel Michael” 1453 signed by Leonardo da Roma

MAIN NAVE

Four frescoes on the walls:

On the right “St. Teresa” and “St. Anthony of Padua”, on the left “St. Philip Neri” and “St. Francis of Assisi” 1682 by Luigi Garzi

In the vault “Four Evangelists” and “Faith, Hope, Charity and Love of God” second half of 1800s by Domenico Monacelli (active in the nineteenth century)

RIGHT TRANSEPT – CHAPEL OF THE CRUCIFIX

“Wooden cross” of the XIV century inserted, with an interesting Baroque style, in the center of the fresco “Madonna and St. John at the foot of the Cross” by Luigi Garzi

Right wall “Nine brothers presented to the Virgin Mary by the Sts. Barbara, Thomas Aquinas and John of God” seventeenth-century painting maybe by the French Claude Mellan (1598/1688)

MAIN ALTAR

“Apparition of Christ to S. Barbara” and oval in the vault of the presbytery “Eternal Father” by Luigi Garzi

Beautiful seventeenth-century front panel of the altar made out of rare stones

On the left “Tomb and bust of Zenobio Masotti” the patron and builder of the church

Lunette “S. Barbara decapitated by his father” by Domenico Monacelli

LEFT TRANSEPT

Altarpiece “Madonna and Sts. Peter, Paul, Jerome, Thomas and John of God” maybe by Francesco Ragusa (1591/1665)

SPECCHI CHAPEL

Altarpiece “S. Saba” by G.B. Brughi (1660/1730), pupil of Baciccio

St. BALBINA

S. BALBINA

Piazza S. Balbina 8

Titulus Sanctae Balbinae mentioned in the year 595, probably erected in the halls of the house of the consul of 193 and 204 Lucius Fabius Cilone, which was given to him by his friend Septimius Severus (193/211)

The remains of the house (Domus Cilonis) perhaps belonged previously to Hadrian (117/138) (Domus private Hadriani) are in the convent of the church

In this house the Titulus Tigridae was instituted, mentioned in the year 499 and therefore before the Titulus Sanctae Balbinae

Restored in the eighth century

Restored again in 1489 for Marco Barbo nephew of Pope Paul II Barbo (1464/71). On this occasion the columns of the portico were replaced with pillars

It was abandoned in early 1600s

Restored and reopened in 1698, again restored in 1813, 1825 and finally in the years 1927/30 by Antonio Muñoz (1884/1960)

On the floor “Black and white mosaics” from the necropolis excavated in 1929 for the opening of the Imperial Way, the ancestor of today's Via Cristoforo Colombo, which began from the Circus Maximus

TO THE RIGHT OF THE ENTRANCE

“Tomb of Stephen de Surdis” d. 1303 from the ancient Basilica of S. Peter

4^th NICHE ON THE RIGHT

Marble relief “Crucifixion” maybe by Mino da Fiesole (1429/84) and John Duknovich aka Giovanni Dalmata (about 1440/1510)

MAIN ALTAR

1742 jasper urn with the relics of St. Balbina, Felicissimus and others

APSE

Frescoes “Redeemer in Glory with the Sts. Balbina, Felicissimus and Quirinus with a pope” 1599 by the Florentine pupil of Passignano Anastasio Fontebuoni (1571/1626) for Clement VIII Aldobrandini (1592/1605) with coat of arms on the triumphal arch

“Cosmatesque chair” of the thirteenth century

6^th NICHE ON THE LEFT

Altar with small well for the relics in the floor

On the wall very damaged fresco “Crucifixion of St. Peter”

3^rd NICHE ON THE LEFT

“Memorial stone with mosaic cross” of the fourteenth century

Frescoes on the walls “Madonna, Child and apostles” and on the apse “Christ” end of thirteenth century by an artist from the school of Pietro de' Cerroni aka Pietro Cavallini (about 1240/1325)

In the lower and oldest layer of frescoes it is possible to see a “Madonna and Child with Sts. Peter and Paul”