Tag: San Giovanni in Rome

The Basilica of Santi Giovanni e Paolo al Celio is a church in Rome, located in the homonymous square, on the Caelian Hill, about 700 meters away from the Roman Forum and the Colosseum.   SHORT HISTORY The church was erected starting with 398 by the Roman senator Byzantis on the site of an ancient structure dating back to the first century AD. The church was used first as a domus ecclesiae (house church) by a Christian community, and then, according to tradition, became the burial ground of the Saints John and Paul, who were martyred during the reign of the emperor Flavius Claudius Julianus. In 410, the church was damaged by the Visigoths of Alaric I, during the sack of Rome, then by an earthquake in 442, and was finally destroyed by the Normans in 1084. In the 12th century, Pope Paschal II restored the church, and built the bell-tower and the portico. The structure was remodeled again in the following centuries. The church took on its current appearance in 1951, when Cardinal Francis Joseph Spellman had the facade restored.   ARCHITECTURE The facade of the church is characterized by a portico along its entire width. Above the portico, Read more [...]