- Santa Maria in Traspontina
Santa Maria in Transpontina is a
Carmelite church on the Via della Conciliazione inRome .Pope Alexander VI demolished an ancient Roman pyramid on the same site (believed in the Middle Ages to be Romulus's tomb, and portrayed on the bronze doors toSt Peter's Basilica and in aGiotto triptych in theVatican Museums ) for the construction of the first church. This church was then demolished in1527 to clear the line of fire for thecannon s of theCastel Sant' Angelo during the Sack of Rome.Designs by
Giovanni Sallustio Peruzzi (with contributions byOttavio Mascherino andFrancesco Peparelli ) for a replacement church were in place by1566 , though the papal artillery officers insisted that its dome be as low as possible to avoid a recurrence of the previous problem. This meant that the new church's dome was built without a supporting drum.It has four chapels to each side of the nave. The first on the right, is dedicated to
Saint Barbara (the patron saint of gunners). This chapel has an altarpiece of "Santa Barbara" (c. 1597) byCavalier d'Arpino , with frescoed scenes (1610-20) from the life of the saint byCesare Rossetti . The second chapel has an "Ecstasy of S. Canuto" (1686) byDaniele Seyter , with frescoed ceiling and lunettes byAlessandro Francesi . The fourth chapel has a "Madonna & St. John Evangelist" (1587) byCesare Conti with frescoes of the Passion (1649) byBernardino Gagliardi . The fifth is dedicated to "S.Alberto" and the frescoed stories were byNiccolò Circignani The crossing to the right, has an "Apparition of the Trinity and 3 saints" (1639) byGiovanni Domenico Cerrini .The main altar (1674) was designed by
Carlo Fontana , and has a medieval icon. The statues (1695) around the altar are byAlessandro Rondoni ,Giacomo Antonio Lavaggi ,Vincenzo Felici , andMichel Maille .The chorus has canvases (1760) by
Angelo Papi while the ceiling of the left crossing (1697) was frescoed byBiagio Puccini . The fifth chapel to the left has an altarpiece byGiovan Battista Ricci of "Preaching by S.Angelo martire" (1612) and stories of the saint. In the fourth chapel, a painting of the "Ecstasy of S.Teresa" (1698) byAntonio Gherardi while the third has a "Flagellazion of Saints Peter and Paul" by Ricci, the second "S.Elia with St. Anthony Abbot and the blessed Franco da Siena" painted byGiacinto Calandrucci .One chapel contains the two columns to which Peter and Paul were said to have been bound prior to their martyrdom in the
circus of Nero nearby.References
*cite book|last=Rendina|first=Claudio|title=Enciclopedia di Roma|publisher=Newton & Compton|loation=Rome|year=2000
This church was actualy demolished during the pontificate of Pius IV (1559-1565) to make way for the the new enciente of Castel S. Angelo. The old church appears on Bufalini's map of Rome (1551). It was rebuilt in the centre of the Borgo Pio.
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