I just discovered that I had prepared these photos of Santa Maria in Trastevere to post. "Trastevere" means "across the Tiber" and the area has its own quaint and traditional character. Above is the square outside the basilica; here is an overview of the interior:
All students have to note that the columns are assorted. This is common in Roman Churches because they (and the capitals) were scavenged from older buildings or fished out of the Tiber or something. Apparently the capitals here were taken from the Baths of Caracalla.
The ceiling is magnificent in its own right:
Typically of ancient Churches in Rome, Santa Maria in Trastevere combines art and architecture from across the centuries: ancient columns, cosmatesque paving, 17th century ceiling (by Domenichino), 6th century painting of Our Lady, 13th century apse mosaic, 19th century arch, 1702 facade by Carlo Fontana... The various additions do not seem to detract from the atmosphere if ancient Christian Rome that wafts through the Church which is on the site of one of the early Roman "
tituli" founded at least as early as the reign of Callixtus I, around 220.
I just discovered that I had prepared these photos of Santa Maria in Trastevere to post. "Trastevere" means "across the Tiber" and the area has its own quaint and traditional character. Above is the square outside the basilica; here is an overview of the interior:
All students have to note that the columns are assorted. This is common in Roman Churches because they (and the capitals) were scavenged from older buildings or fished out of the Tiber or something. Apparently the capitals here were taken from the Baths of Caracalla.
The ceiling is magnificent in its own right:
Typically of ancient Churches in Rome, Santa Maria in Trastevere combines art and architecture from across the centuries: ancient columns, cosmatesque paving, 17th century ceiling (by Domenichino), 6th century painting of Our Lady, 13th century apse mosaic, 19th century arch, 1702 facade by Carlo Fontana... The various additions do not seem to detract from the atmosphere if ancient Christian Rome that wafts through the Church which is on the site of one of the early Roman "tituli" founded at least as early as the reign of Callixtus I, around 220.
