History
An ancient church at the site was refurbished in 1582 by Vignola under the patronage of Cardinal Alessandro Farnese. Subsequently, the present church was designed by Giacomo della Porta under the patronage of Cardinal Pietro Aldobrandini. The interior layout is octagonal. On the stairs leading to it can be seen writing and drawings scratched into the stone, probably information from the architect to the builders. The church presbytery contains a mosaic by Francesco Zucca made after designs of Giovanni della Vecchia. [2]
An old tradition claims that 10,000 Christian slaves who died while building the Baths of Diocletian are buried in the church's crypt, and are venerated as St Zeno [3] and Companions. Some dead slaves from this project are likely buried in catacombs in the nearby hillside, though the 10,000 figure must be exaggerated.
According to legend, St Bernard had a vision while celebrating a requiem mass at the church. The vision was of the souls in purgatory he was praying for ascending to heaven by a ladder — the Scala Coeli, leading to the church's suffix. This vision was the basis for an indulgence attached to requiem masses celebrated in the church. Later, the indulgence was granted to specific churches outside Rome. In 1500, Henry VII of England was granted the scala coeli indulgence for his new chapel in Westminster Abbey, and the popularity of it in England grew rapidly. By the 1520s, bequests for masses "at Scala Coeli" were common. [4]
The church belongs to the Trappist Tre Fontane Abbey, along with the churches of Santi Vincenzo e Anastasio and San Paolo alle Tre Fontane. The church of Scala Coeli was already used by the Romanian Orthodox community in Rome before November 2002 when, to mark the visit to Rome of Teoctist, Patriarch of Romania, Pope John Paul II officially granted it to them. Previously, they had also gathered in the Chapel of Our Lady of Genezano off Via Cavour, but that chapel had become too small.
Trappist beer is brewed by Trappist monks. Fourteen monasteries—six in Belgium, two in the Netherlands, and one each in Austria, Italy, England, France, Spain and the United States—currently produce Trappist beer as members of the International Trappist Association (ITA). However, the Authentic Trappist Product label is assigned by the ITA to the beer products of just eleven breweries which meet their strict criteria. As of 2021, Achel is no longer recognized as a Trappist brewery because it does not have any living monks.
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Sebastiano Conca was an Italian painter.
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Giacomo della Porta (1532–1602) was an Italian architect and sculptor, who worked on many important buildings in Rome, including St. Peter's Basilica. He was born at Porlezza, Lombardy and died in Rome.
As the home of the Pope and the Catholic curia, as well as the locus of many sites and relics of veneration related to apostles, saints and Christian martyrs, Rome had long been a destination for pilgrims. The Via Francigena was an ancient pilgrim route between England and Rome. It was customary to end the pilgrimage with a visit to the tombs of Sts Peter and Paul. Periodically, some were moved to travel to Rome for the spiritual benefits accrued during a Jubilee. These indulgences sometimes required a visit to a specific church or churches. Pilgrims need not visit each church.
There are more than 900 churches in Rome, including some notable Roman Catholic Marian churches. Most, but not all, of these are Roman Catholic.
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Trois-Fontaines Abbey was a Cistercian abbey in the present commune of Trois-Fontaines-l'Abbaye in the French department of Marne, in the historic province of Champagne.
Tre Fontane Abbey, or the Abbey of Saints Vincent and Anastasius, is a Roman Catholic abbey in Rome, held by monks of the Cistercian Order of the Strict Observance, better known as Trappists. It is known for raising the lambs whose wool is used to weave the pallia of new metropolitan archbishops. The Pope blesses the lambs on the Feast of Saint Agnes on January 21. The wool is prepared, and he gives the pallia to the new archbishops on the Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul, the Holy Apostles.
Church of the Holy Spirit in the Saxon District is a 12th-century titular church in Rome, Italy. It is in Borgo Santo Spirito, a street which got its name from the church, placed in the southern part of Rione Borgo. The current holder of the titulus is Cardinal-Deacon Dominique Mamberti. It has been the official sanctuary of Divine Mercy since 1994.
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Santa Caterina a Magnanapoli is a baroque church dedicated to St. Catherine of Siena on Largo Magnanapoli on the slopes of the Quirinal Hill in Rome.
San Paolo alle Tre Fontane (Italian), in English "St Paul at the Three Fountains" is a Roman Catholic church dedicated to St Paul the Apostle, at the presumed site of his martyrdom in Rome. In Latin it is known as Sancti Pauli ad Aquas Salvias. The church located on the grounds of the Tre Fontane Abbey located on Via di Acque Salvie 1 in the Quartiere Ardeatino.
Benedetto Pamphili was an Italian cardinal, patron of the arts and librettist for many composers.
Nicolas Cordier (1567–1612), was a French sculptor, painter and printmaker working in Rome and also known as "il Franciosino", Nicholas Cordier, or Niccolò da Lorena.
