People standing in front of the church of Sant’Anastasia will probably not realise that this is one of the oldest churches in the city. The history of the church possibly goes back to the first quarter of the fourth century, when Christianity had just become an allowed religion (religio licita)…
The richly decorated church of Sant’Antonio dei Portoghesi is dedicated to Saint Antonius of Padova (1195-1231). As I have written previously, the saint’s real name was not Antonius and he was not from Padova either. He had in fact been born as Fernando Martins in the Portuguese city of Lisbon.…
People standing in front of the church of Sant’Eusebio on the Esquiline Hill will probably find it hard to believe that this is really a very old church, with roots in Late Antiquity. The church façade, which has recently been restored, mentions the year 1711 in Roman numerals. The medieval…
My first visit to the church of San Sebastiano fuori le Mura on the Via Appia was actually by accident. My friend and I had booked a guided tour at the nearby Catacombs of San Callisto and still had to wait an hour or so before it started. We decided…
In de Plenkertstraat in het prachtige Limburgse plaatsje Valkenburg aan de Geul bevindt zich op nummer 55 een heel bijzonder museum. Museum Romeinse Katakomben heeft niet alleen een aparte naam – katakomben in plaats van het taalkundig correcte catacomben – het is ook een museum dat eigenlijk geen gelijke kent.…
I definitely consider it to be the highlight of my most recent visit to Rome: a trip to the Catacombs of Saints Marcellinus and Peter, which were reopened to the public in 2014. I had already been to the Catacombs of San Callisto on the Via Appia once, but those…
I have procrastinated the gargantuan task of writing a post about the Santa Maria Maggiore for far too long. I have mentioned this major basilica several times now in other posts, and have visited it at least half a dozen times. The church is one of four major basilicas in…
The San Lorenzo in Damaso is one of several churches in Rome dedicated to the third century deacon and martyr Saint Lawrence. Other churches in the city seem to be connected to episodes in his life. For instance, the San Lorenzo in Fonte was built on the alleged spot where…