San Giovanni in Oleo is a small church in

Churches of Rome

There are more than 900 churches in Rome. Most, but not all, of these are Roman Catholic, with some notable Roman Catholic Marian churches.The first churches of Rome originated in places where Christians met. They were divided into three categories:...

 Rome

Rome

Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...

, Italy, devoted to Saint John the Evangelist, on the place where, according to tradition, his martyrdom was attempted.

According to an ancient tradition, in 92, St. John survived martyrdom through immersion in a vat of boiling oil, attempted by Domitian

Domitian

Domitian was Roman Emperor from 81 to 96. Domitian was the third and last emperor of the Flavian dynasty.Domitian's youth and early career were largely spent in the shadow of his brother Titus, who gained military renown during the First Jewish-Roman War...

 himself. The old apostle survived a long while without even being burnt and the crowd demanded that he be spared; Domitian condemned him to exile on the little island of Patmos

Patmos

Patmos is a small Greek island in the Aegean Sea. One of the northernmost islands of the Dodecanese complex, it has a population of 2,984 and an area of . The highest point is Profitis Ilias, 269 meters above sea level. The Municipality of Patmos, which includes the offshore islands of Arkoi ,...

, where John wrote Revelation

Book of Revelation

The Book of Revelation is the final book of the New Testament. The title came into usage from the first word of the book in Koine Greek: apokalupsis, meaning "unveiling" or "revelation"...

. After his exile, he died in Ephesus

Ephesus

Ephesus was an ancient Greek city, and later a major Roman city, on the west coast of Asia Minor, near present-day Selçuk, Izmir Province, Turkey. It was one of the twelve cities of the Ionian League during the Classical Greek era...

. This ancient tradition, and the centralized plan of the church, customary for votive oratories on the sites of martyrdoms, support the 5th century origin of this foundation.

The current church is an octagonal 16th century Renaissance chapel, by the Porta Latina

Porta Latina

The Porta Latina is a single-arched gate in the Aurelian Walls of ancient Rome. It marked the Rome end of the Via Latina and gives its name to the church of San Giovanni a Porta Latina...

. San Giovanni in Oleo is attributed to Bramante and Antonio da Sangallo the Younger

Antonio da Sangallo the Younger

thumb|250px|The church of Santa Maria di Loreto near the [[Trajan's Market]] in [[Rome]], considered Sangallo's masterwork.thumb|250px|View of St. Patrick's Well in [[Orvieto]]....

, and was later restored by Borromini

Francesco Borromini

Francesco Borromini, byname of Francesco Castelli was an architect from Ticino who, with his contemporaries, Gian Lorenzo Bernini and Pietro da Cortona, was a leading figure in the emergence of Roman Baroque architecture.A keen student of the architecture of Michelangelo and the ruins of...

, who modified the roof, installing a cross on an orb, decorated with roses and adding a frieze in terracotta with roses and palms. On the door is the coat of arms of the French prelate Benoît Adam, with the motto "Au plaisir de Dieu". The frescos (1716) showing Saint John's attempted martyrdom were painted by Lazzaro Baldi

Lazzaro Baldi

Lazzaro Baldi was an Italian painter of the Baroque period, active mainly in Rome.-Biography:Baldi was born in Pistoia and died in Rome. He was part of the large studio of Pietro da Cortona, and became adept at fresco technique. He painted a David and Goliath for Alexander VII in the Palazzo...

.