Santa Maria in Trastevere

Santa Maria in Trastevere

Santa Maria in Trastevere

Santa Maria in Trastevere is a church near Tiber Island, in the district of Trastevere. The english translation is The Basilica of Our Lady in Trastevere and the Italian Basilica di Santa Maria in Trastevere. This church is one of the oldest churches in Rome, and perhaps the first in which Mass was openly celebrated. The basic floor plan and wall structure of the church date back to the 340s.



The present nave preserves its original basilica plan from the pre-12th century and stands on the earlier foundations. The 22 granite columns with Ionic and Corinthian decorations, that separates the nave from the aisles, come from the ruins of the Baths of Caracalla, as did the upper sill of the entrance door.

Inside the church are a number of late 13th-century mosaics by Pietro Cavallini. Domenichino's octagonal ceiling painting, Assumption of the Virgin (1617) fits in the coffered ceiling setting that he designed.

The fifth chapel to the left is the Avila Chapel designed by Antonio Gherardi. This, and his Chapel of S. Cecilia in San Carlo ai Catinari are two of the most architecturally inventive chapels of the late seventeenth century in Rome. In the dome, there is an opening or oculus (Eye in Latin).

Near the top, a niche protects a mosaic of the Madonna and Child.

The mosaics on the facade are probably from the 12th century. They depict the Madonna enthroned and suckling the Child, flanked by ten women holding lamps. This image on the facade showing Mary nursing Jesus is an early example of a popular medieval and renaissance image of the Virgin.






Among those buried in the church are the relics of Pope Callixtus I, Antipope Anacletus II, and Cardinal Lorenzo Campeggio.






The church keeps a relic of Saint Apollonia, her head, as well as a portion of the Holy Sponge.

Santa Maria in Trastevere on map