Santi Bonifacio ed Alessio

Last updated
Santi Bonifacio ed Alessio
Basilica of Saints Boniface and Alexius on the Aventine Hill
Sant'Alessio all'Aventino
Basilica dei Santi Bonifacio e Alessio
Basilica dei Santi Bonifacio e Alessio.jpg
Exterior
Santi Bonifacio ed Alessio
Click on the map for a fullscreen view
41°53′01″N12°28′44″E / 41.883647°N 12.478847°E / 41.883647; 12.478847
LocationPiazza Sant’Alessio 23, Rome
Country Italy
Language(s)Italian
Denomination Catholic
Tradition Roman Rite
Religious order Somaschi Fathers
Website santalessiocrs.it
History
Status titular church, minor basilica
Founded4th century
Dedication Boniface of Tarsus and Alexius of Rome
Architecture
Architect(s) Giambattista Nolli, Tommaso De Marchis
Architectural type Baroque, Romanesque
Administration
Diocese Rome

The Basilica dei Santi Bonifacio e(d) Alessio is a basilica, rectory church served by the Somaschans, and titular church for a cardinal-priest on the Aventine Hill in the third prefecture of central Rome, Italy.

Contents

It is dedicated to Saint Boniface of Tarsus and Saint Alexius, the former the original and the latter added in the 10th century. It lies on Piazza Sant’Alessio 23, near the historical gardens of St. Alexius and Via di santa Sabina.

Basilica

Icon of Madonna di Sant' Alessio (Madonna of St. Alexis; Madonna of Intercession) Madonna S.Alessio.jpg
Icon of Madonna di Sant’ Alessio (Madonna of St. Alexis; Madonna of Intercession)
The Chapel of the Most Holy Sacrament and Madonna di Sant'Alessio in Basilica of the Saints Bonifacio and Alexis The Chapel of the Most Holy Sacrament and Madonna di Sant'Alessio.jpg
The Chapel of the Most Holy Sacrament and Madonna di Sant'Alessio in Basilica of the Saints Bonifacio and Alexis

Founded between the 3rd and 4th centuries, it was restored in 1216 by Pope Honorius III (some columns of his building survive in the present building's eastern apse); in 1582; in 1743 designed by Giovanni Battista Nolli and in the 1750s reelaborated by Tommaso De Marchis (his main altar survives); and between 1852 and 1860 by the Somaschi, which congregation still serves it as a rectory church. The 16th century style facade, elaborated from the De Marchis phase, is built onto the medieval-style quadriportico.

The church has a Romanesque campanile. On the south side of the nave is the funerary monument Eleonora Boncompagni Borghese of 1693, to a design of Giovan Contini Batiste, and in the south transept the Chapel of Charles IV of Spain, with the icon Madonna di sant'Alessio , an Edessa icon of the Intercession of the Madonna dating from the 12-13th centuries, thought to have been painted by St Luke the Evangelist and brought from the East by St Alexius. The church also contains the tombstone of Peter Savelli (of the same family as Pope Honorius III).

In a Romanesque crypt that survives below the church, the main altar contains relics of St Thomas of Canterbury. The crypt's 12th-century wall of frescoes depicts the Agnus Dei and symbols of the Four Evangelists, and on the north aisle St Gerolamo Emiliani introducing orphans to the Virgin by Jean Francois De Troy, and at the end of the aisle The Holy Steps and the titular church of Saint Alexius in wood and stucco by Andrea Bergondi.

Connected to the basilica are the buildings of the former monastery, which now belong to the Italian state.

In 2015, [1] and again on 29 June 2019, it was noticed by the Italian press the discovery of a Middle Age fresco in an exceptional state of preservation and integrity. The painting has been restored and its subject has been identified by the Italian art historian Claudia Viggiani with Christ the Pilgrim. [2] [3] [4] The fresco was firstly discovered in 1965 by the Italian Genio Civile during the stabilization's works of the bell tower, and then discarded for forty years, until 2005.

Burials

Cardinal title

The basilica has been a titular church for Cardinal-priests (the second order) from 1587, originally called Sant'Alessio.

In the 19th century, the former dedication of the basilica was renewed, and from that time on the official name of the basilica and the cardinal titulus are Santi Bonifacio e(d) Alessio.

Cardinal-protectors

(All Italian unless specified)

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Santa Sabina</span> Church in Rome, Italy

The Basilica of Saint Sabina is a historic church on the Aventine Hill in Rome, Italy. It is a titular minor basilica and mother church of the Roman Catholic Order of Preachers, better known as the Dominicans.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sant'Andrea della Valle</span> Roman Catholic basilica, a landmark of Rome, Italy

Sant'Andrea della Valle is a minor basilica in the rione of Sant'Eustachio of the city of Rome, Italy. The basilica is the general seat for the religious order of the Theatines. It is located at Piazza Vidoni, at the intersection of Corso Vittorio Emanuele and Corso Rinascimento.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Santa Prassede</span> Church in Rome, Italy

The Basilica of Saint Praxedes, commonly known in Italian as Santa Prassede, is an early medieval titular church and minor basilica located near the papal basilica of Saint Mary Major, on Via di Santa Prassede, 9/a in rione Monti of Rome, Italy. The current Cardinal Priest of Titulus Sancta Praxedis is Paul Poupard.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Churches of Rome</span>

There are more than 900 churches in Rome, which makes it the city with the largest number of churches in the world. Almost all of these are Catholic.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Santa Croce in Gerusalemme</span> Roman Catholic basilica, a landmark of Rome, Italy

The Basilica of the Holy Cross in Jerusalem or Basilica di Santa Croce in Gerusalemme is a Catholic Minor basilica and titular church in rione Esquilino, Rome, Italy. It is one of the Seven Pilgrim Churches of Rome.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sant'Anastasia al Palatino</span> Roman Catholic basilica, a landmark of Rome, Italy

Sant'Anastasia is a minor basilica and titular church for cardinal-priests in Rome, Italy owned by the Syro-Malabar Catholic Church.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Santi Quattro Coronati</span> Church in Rome, Italy

Santi Quattro Coronati is an ancient basilica in Rome, Italy. The church dates back to the fourth or fifth century, and is devoted to four anonymous saints and martyrs. The complex of the basilica with its two courtyards, the fortified Cardinal Palace with the Saint Silvester Chapel, and the monastery with its cosmatesque cloister is built in a silent and green part of Rome, between the Colosseum and San Giovanni in Laterano, in an out-of-time setting.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Santa Cecilia in Trastevere</span> Roman Catholic basilica, a landmark of Rome, Italy

Santa Cecilia in Trastevere is a 5th-century church in Rome, Italy, in the Trastevere rione, devoted to the Roman martyr Saint Cecilia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">San Vitale, Rome</span> Church in Rome, Italy

The early Christian imperial basilica of the Saints Martyrs Vitale, Valeria, Gervasio and Protasio known more commonly as the basilica of San Vitale and Compagni Martiri in Fovea or more simply as San Vitale al Quirinale. It is the oldest Catholic place of worship in the historic center of Rome, located in via Nazionale. The imperial basilica of San Vitale al Quirinale, built under the pontificate of Pope Siricius after 386 and consecrated and richly decorated by Pope Innocent in 402 is the first public Christian basilica with a baptistery not founded on pre-existing pagan temples, mentioned in the Liber pontificalis, built by the Emperor Theodosius at the behest of Saint Ambrose of Milan, in honor of the miraculous discovery of the bodies of martyrs Gervasius and Protasius in Milan. It is the most frescoed basilica in Rome.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">San Sisto Vecchio</span> Church in Rome, Italy

The Basilica of San Sisto Vecchio is one of the over sixty minor basilicas among the churches of Rome, and a titular church since 600 AD. As such, it is connected to the title of a Cardinal priest, currently Antoine Kambanda.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Santo Stefano al Monte Celio</span> Church in Rome, Italy

The Basilica of St. Stephen in the Round on the Caelian Hill is an ancient basilica and titular church in Rome, Italy. Commonly named Santo Stefano Rotondo, the church is Hungary's "national church" in Rome, dedicated to both Saint Stephen, the first Christian martyr, and Stephen I, the sanctified first king of Hungary who converted to Christianity and promoted it in his kingdom. The minor basilica is also the rectory church of the Pontifical Collegium Germanicum et Hungaricum.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">San Nicola in Carcere</span> Church in Rome, Italy

San Nicola in Carcere is a titular church in Rome near the Forum Boarium in rione Sant'Angelo. It is one of the traditional stational churches of Lent.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sant'Adriano al Foro</span>

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Santi Giovanni e Paolo al Celio</span> Roman Catholic basilica, a landmark of Rome, Italy

The Basilica of Saints John and Paul on the Caelian Hill is an ancient basilica church in Rome, located on the Caelian Hill. It was originally built in 398.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Santi Vito e Modesto, Rome</span>

Santi Vito e Modesto is a Roman Catholic church, and appears to have two facades, a 20th-century marble facade on Via Carlo Alberto, but a rustic brick older entrance, in reality the apse, on the Via San Vito in the Rione Esquilino of Rome, Italy. It has also been called Santi Vito, Modesto e Crescenzia. It is located, adjacent to the Servian Wall, near the former Monastery of the Viperesche.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Santi Apostoli, Rome</span> Roman Catholic basilica, a landmark of Rome, Italy


Santi Dodici Apostoli, commonly known simply as Santi Apostoli, is a 6th-century Roman Catholic parish and titular church and minor basilica in Rome, Italy, dedicated originally to St. James and St. Philip, whose remains are kept here, and later to all Apostles. Today, the basilica is under the care of the Conventual Franciscans, whose headquarters in Rome is in the adjacent building. It is the Station church for Friday, the first week of Lent.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Giovanni Vincenzo Gonzaga</span> Italian cardinal

Giovanni Vincenzo Gonzaga (1540–1591) was an Italian Roman Catholic cardinal.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Giovanni Francesco Guidi di Bagno</span>

Giovanni Francesco Guidi di Bagno (1578–1641) was an Italian cardinal, brother of cardinal Nicola Guidi di Bagno and nephew of cardinal Girolamo Colonna.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Madonna di sant'Alessio</span> Christian icon

Madonna di Sant'Alessio(Madonna of St. Alexis; Madonna of Intercession) is an icon, probably of Byzantine origin, of the Blessed Virgin now in the Basilica of the Saints Bonifacio and Alexis on the Aventine Hill in Rome, Italy.

Sant'Alessio may refer to:

References

  1. Giulia Ronchi (Jul 1, 2019). ""Exceptional" finding in Saint Alessio, Rome. But it was known by years ago" (in Italian). Archived from the original on July 7, 2019. Retrieved July 7, 2019.
  2. "Middle Age fresco discovered after 900 years". lsussidiario.net (in Italian). Rome. Jun 29, 2019. Archived from the original on June 30, 2019. Retrieved July 7, 2019.
  3. "Rome: discovered an exceptional Middle Age fresco". TG5 (in Italian). Jun 29, 2019. Archived from the original on June 30, 2019. Retrieved July 7, 2019.
  4. "Rome, found an untouched fresco of the Middle Age period". Corriere della Sera . Rome. Jun 29, 2019. Archived from the original on July 7, 2019. Retrieved July 7, 2019.

Commons-logo.svg Media related to Santi Bonifacio e Alessio at Wikimedia Commons

Preceded by
San Bartolomeo all'Isola
Landmarks of Rome
Santi Bonifacio ed Alessio
Succeeded by
San Camillo de Lellis