Santa Maria degli Angeli e dei Martiri - 450 years - Roma, Italy
Posted by: 
denben
N 41° 54.224 E 012° 29.856
33T E 292437 N 4642116
With a Papal Bull dated 27 July 1561, Pope Pius IV ordered the construction of the Basilica of St. Mary of the Angels and the Martyrs inside the frigidarium of the Baths of Diocletian in the Piazza della Repubblica in Rome.
Waymark Code: WM10QZ6
Location: Lazio, Italy
Date Posted: 06/13/2019
Views: 3
The thermae of Diocletian, built in 306, dominated the Viminal Hill with their ruined mass. Michelangelo Buonarroti worked from 1563 to 1564 to adapt a section of the remaining structure of the baths to enclose a church. He achieved a sequence of shaped architectural spaces, developed from a Greek cross, with a dominant transept, with cubical chapels at each end, and the effect of a transverse nave.
There is no true facade; the simple entrance is set within one of the coved apses of a main space of the thermae. The vestibule with canted corners and identical side chapels—one chapel has the tomb of Salvator Rosa, the other of Carlo Maratta—leads to a second vestibule, repeated on the far side of the transept, dominated by the over lifesize Saint Bruno of Cologne by Jean Antoine Houdon (1766).
Santa Maria degli Angeli was the official state church of the Kingdom of Italy (1870–1946). More recently, national burials have been held in the church. The church hosts the tombs of General Armando Diaz and Admiral Paolo Thaon di Revel, who were successful commanders during World War I on the Italian front. Also today the Basilica is used for many ceremonies, including the funeral of soldiers killed abroad.
The coordinates are from a courtyard near the north-east entrance to the church where you can see the plaque.
Source: Wikipedia (
visit link)