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Chiesa San Paolo alle Tre Fontane

Typology: Non Parish Church

Address

Address: Via Acque Salvie, 1
Zone: Quartiere Ardeatino (Roma sud)

Contacts

Telephone: 06 5401655

Opening times

For the timetable of the masses and visiting conditions, please consult the contacts.

Description

Church dedicated to the martyrdom of St Paul, it is the holiest and most historically and spiritually important site in the Acque Salvie. In 1599, the pre-existing ancient building was demolished and Giacomo della Porta's work commissioned by Cardinal Pietro Aldobrandini was built in its place. The exterior and façade is an elegant alternation of brick and travertine, used for the decorative elements of the portal, cornices and capitals. Two statues dominate the tympanum of the façade: those of St Peter and St Paul, made by 'Franciosino'. St. Peter and St. Paul are also the subjects of two high reliefs on the side walls of the vestibule, immediately after the entrance, in the area that corresponded to the former oratory. The floor of the vestibule is partly occupied by a mosaic, which already existed when the church was built. The vestibule leads to the nave, transverse to the entrance, with two chapels at the sides and the apse in the centre. On the floor is a Roman mosaic found in Ostia Antica near the Mithraeum of the Imperial Palace, which dates back to the 2nd century AD and is dedicated to the Four Seasons. Two of the altars in the chapels are surmounted by paintings; the one on the left, on the altar dedicated to St Peter, depicts a copy of the 'Crucifixion' by Guido Reni (1575-1642), the original of which is kept in the Vatican Pinacoteca; the altar on the right is dedicated to St Paul and is surmounted by the 'Beheading' altarpiece by Bartolomeo Passarotti (1529-1592) from Bologna. Both paintings are surmounted by tympanums supported by columns of fine marble. To the left of the altar of St Paul is the truncated column where tradition has it that the Apostle was bound during his martyrdom. The Three Fountains are aligned along the wall of the nave, at equal distances from each other but at different levels from the floor, arranged in niche-shaped aediculae.

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Last checked: 2022-07-14 11:41