The church of San Teodoro is dedicated to Saint Theodorus of Pavia, who between ca. 740 and 778 served as bishop of Pavia. The history of the church goes back to the eighth century. Originally it was dedicated to Saint Agnes of Rome, who according to tradition was martyred in…
I cannot deny that I feel exceptionally privileged. In January of this year I had the former private chapel of the Pope all to myself. This chapel is one of the very few remnants of the old Lateran palace, which was demolished and replaced at the end of the sixteenth…
A few months ago, I saw the documentary St. Peter’s and the Papal Basilicas of Rome at the cinema. It was excellent, but I do have one bone to pick: the documentary suggests that there are four papal basilicas in Rome, while in fact there are five. We have Saint…
The Santa Maria Antiqua is a little jewel on the edge of the Forum Romanum. It is a ruined sixth-century church that is no longer used for religious services. The church can be visited on the ticket that gives access to the Forum, and at the moment it should still…
It just wasn’t my day. I had wanted to see the Santa Balbina church on the Aventine first and then proceed to the Santi Nereo e Achilleo near the Baths of Caracalla. Both turned out to be closed at the advertised opening hours, which was rather frustrating. I continued my…
This is a lovely little temple-like church nested against the slope of the Palatine Hill. It is not far from the San Giorgio in Velabro. Like the San Giorgio, it is dedicated to a specifically eastern saint, Saint Theodorus (Theodore in English). As I have discussed previously, there were more…
The Santa Maria in Cosmedin is a church that is located on the Forum Boarium, Ancient Rome’s cattle market. Just to the north was another forum, the Forum Holitorium, which was a vegetable market. Both forums were obviously very important trading locations in Antiquity. A reconstruction of early Rome from…