Santa Caterina a Magnanapoli is a 16th century 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...

. It is devoted to St. Catherine of Siena

Catherine of Siena

Saint Catherine of Siena, T.O.S.D, was a tertiary of the Dominican Order, and a Scholastic philosopher and theologian. She also worked to bring the papacy of Gregory XI back to Rome from its displacement in France, and to establish peace among the Italian city-states. She was proclaimed a Doctor...

, and is located on the Quirinal Hill

Quirinal Hill

The Quirinal Hill is one of the Seven Hills of Rome, at the north-east of the city center. It is the location of the official residence of the Italian Head of State, who resides in the Quirinal Palace; by metonymy "the Quirinal" has come to stand for the Italian President.- History :It was...

, in piazza Magnanapoli

Magnanapoli

Magnanapoli is a name given to part of the Quirinal hill in Rome, literally meaning Great Naples. The two most common explanations are that this is a corruption of:...

.

History

The first church was first built ca. 1575 and originally belonged to an adjacent convent (built ca. 1568 by Pope Pius V

Pope Pius V

Pope Saint Pius V , born Antonio Ghislieri , was Pope from 1566 to 1572 and is a saint of the Catholic Church. He is chiefly notable for his role in the Council of Trent, the Counter-Reformation, and the standardization of the Roman liturgy within the Latin Church...

) of Dominican

Dominican Order

The Order of Preachers , after the 15th century more commonly known as the Dominican Order or Dominicans, is a Catholic religious order founded by Saint Dominic and approved by Pope Honorius III on 22 December 1216 in France...

 tertiary nuns who brought relics of its namesake. Construction of the present church began in 1608, initially at expense of Cardinal Scipione Borghese

Scipione Borghese

Scipione Borghese was an Italian Cardinal, art collector and patron of the arts. A member of the Borghese family, he was the patron of the painter Caravaggio and the artist Bernini...

 to a design by Carlo Maderno

Carlo Maderno

Carlo Maderno was a Swiss-Italian architect, born in Ticino, who is remembered as one of the fathers of Baroque architecture. His façades of Santa Susanna, St. Peter's Basilica and Sant'Andrea della Valle were of key importance in the evolution of the Italian Baroque...

, and stopped first in 1613. Meanwhile, the monastery acquired the Torre delle Milizie

Torre delle Milizie

The Torre delle Milizie is a tower in Rome, Italy, annexed to the Trajan's Market in the Imperial fora.One of the main medieval monuments of the city, the tower is on a square plan, its base sides measure 10.5 x 9.5 m, and it currently stands at almost 50 meters...

 in 1619.



When work re-started 1628, it was probably intended to continue according to Maderno's design, but he died the next year, and Giovanni Battista Soria

Giovanni Battista Soria

thumb|250px|Façade of [[Santa Caterina a Magnanapoli]] in [[Rome]], with the [[Torre delle Milizie]] behind.Giovanni Battista Soria was an Italian architect who lived and worked mostly in Rome....

 was commissioned to complete the church. He made changes to Maderno's design, how much unknown, since the original plans are not known. Between 1631-1641, (when the present facade was completed. The Chigi family heraldic symbols of then Pope Alexander VII

Pope Alexander VII

Pope Alexander VII , born Fabio Chigi, was Pope from 7 April 1655, until his death.- Early life :Born in Siena, a member of the illustrious banking family of Chigi and a great-nephew of Pope Paul V , he was privately tutored and eventually received doctorates of philosophy, law, and theology from...

 are featured in the balustrade.

The whole convent, except for the tower, was demolished in 1924. The Military Ordinariate

Military ordinariate

A military ordinariate is an ecclesiastical jurisdiction of the Roman Catholic Church, of Latin or Eastern Rite, responsible for the pastoral care of Catholics serving in the armed forces of a nation....

, whose headquarters are adjacent to the church, took over the church, and it is now served by diocesan clergy. A restoration occurred in 1992.

Works of art

In the corridor leading to the sacristy are remains of frescoes by Antoniazzo Romano

Antoniazzo Romano

Antoniazzo Romano, born Antonio di Benedetto Aquilo degli Aquili was an Italian Early Renaissance painter, the leading figure of the Roman school during the 15th century.-Biography:...

 and pupils, produced for the room of St Catherine of Siena and placed in a now demolished oratory

Oratory (worship)

An oratory is a Christian room for prayer, from the Latin orare, to pray.-Catholic church:In the Roman Catholic Church, an oratory is a structure other than a parish church, set aside by ecclesiastical authority for prayer and the celebration of Mass...

 behind the church some time after 1637. Among the saints shown as St Bridget of Sweden

Bridget of Sweden

Bridget of Sweden Bridget of Sweden Bridget of Sweden (1303 – 23 July 1373; also Birgitta of Vadstena, Saint Birgitta , was a mystic and saint, and founder of the Bridgettines nuns and monks after the death of her husband of twenty years...

 and St Catherine of Alexandria

Catherine of Alexandria

Saint Catherine of Alexandria, also known as Saint Catherine of the Wheel and The Great Martyr Saint Catherine is, according to tradition, a Christian saint and virgin, who was martyred in the early 4th century at the hands of the pagan emperor Maxentius...

.

The style of the present façade, with two architectural orders, is in late Baroque

Baroque

The Baroque is a period and the style that used exaggerated motion and clear, easily interpreted detail to produce drama, tension, exuberance, and grandeur in sculpture, painting, literature, dance, and music...

. The interior has a single nave with three chapels on each side, with ornate decorations mainly from the 17th century with 18th century additions. The sanctuary, for example, is richly decorated in Baroque style. In the dome is the The Glory of the Eternal Father by Francesco Rosa

Francesco Rosa

Francesco Rosa was an Italian painter from Genoa. His works include The Glory of the Eternal Father at Santa Caterina a Magnanapoli and Moses at the Pantheon, both in Rome. Gregorio Lazzarini trained under him.-External links:...

. The Rococo

Rococo

Rococo , also referred to as "Late Baroque", is an 18th-century style which developed as Baroque artists gave up their symmetry and became increasingly ornate, florid, and playful...

 ceiling fresco is by Luigi Garzi

Luigi Garzi

Luigi Garzi was an Italian painter of the Baroque period. Born in Pistoia, and died in Rome, where he was one of the main pupils of Andrea Sacchi. He is also often referred to as Ludovico Garzi. In 1680 Garzi was appointed Regent of the Congregazione dei Virtuosi al Pantheon, the papal honor...

, painted 1713, depicts the Glory of St Catherine. The tabernacle, made from lapis lazuli, agate, and gilded bronze, as well as the high altar were made in 1787 by Carlo Marchionni

Carlo Marchionni

Carlo Marchionni was an Italian architect. He was also a sculptor and a virtuoso draughtsman, who mixed in the artistic and intellectual circles.-Biography:Marchionni was born in Rome....

. Stucco decorations of side walls by Pietro Bracci

Pietro Bracci

Pietro Bracci was an Italian sculptor working in the Late Baroque manner.-Biography:He was born in Rome and became a student of Giuseppe Bartolomeo Chiari and Camillo Rusconi...

 depict St Rose of Lima

Rose of Lima

Rose of Lima, , the first Catholic saint of the Americas, was born in Lima, Peru.-Biography:Saint Rose of Lima was born in the city of that name, the daughter of Gaspar Flores, a harquebusier from San German, Puerto Rico, and his wife, Maria de Oliva, who was a native of Lima. She was part of a...

 and St Agnes of Montepulciano

Agnes of Montepulciano

Saint Agnes of Montepulciano, O.P., was born into a noble family in Gracciano, a small village near Montepulciano in Tuscany, Italy, where, at the age of nine, she entered the monastery of the Dominican nuns of the Second Order.In 1281, the lord of the castle of Proceno, a fief of Orvieto,...

.

The interior is richly decorated with cantoria

Cantoria

-External links: - Sistema de Información Multiterritorial de Andalucía - Diputación Provincial de Almería - General Information about Cantoria...

 and monument by Giuliano Finelli

Giuliano Finelli

Giuliano Finelli was an Italian Baroque sculptor who emerged from the workshop of Bernini.He was born in Carrara to a family of marble masons in a town associated with mining of the stone, and he initially trained with Michelangelo Naccherino...

. The sculptural group in coloured marble and stucco depicting the The Holy Spirit and the Ecstasy of St Catherine (ca. 1667) is by Melchiorre Caffà

Melchiorre Caffà

Melchiorre Cafà was a sculptor from Malta. Cafà began a promising career in Baroque Rome but this was cut short by his premature death following a work accident.- Biography :...

 appears inspired by his mentor, Bernini, sculpture of The Ecstasy of St Theresa

Ecstasy of St Theresa

The Ecstasy of Saint Teresa is the central sculptural group in white marble set in an elevated aedicule in the Cornaro Chapel, Santa Maria della Vittoria, Rome...

(ca. 1652). In the third chapel on the north side is the Madonna of the Rosary by Giovanni Battista Passeri

Giovanni Battista Passeri

Giovanni Battista Passeri was an Italian painter of the Baroque period. He was a pupil of the painter Domenichino, while they worked together at Frascati...

. This is considered one of his best works.

A double staircase leading to the portico was built in the 20th century, when the Via Nazionale

Via Nazionale (Rome)

Via Nazionale is a street in Rome from Piazza della Repubblica leading towards Piazza Venezia.Already begun as via Pia, named in honour of Pius IX, who had wanted to connect Stazione Termini to the city-centre, the street was completed at the end of the 19th century through the ambition of several...

 was laid out. By the stairs is the Crypt of the Fallen of the First World War, constructed in 1934 and dedicated to the priests who were killed in the war, with a bronze crucifix by Romano Romanelli

Romano Romanelli

Romano Romanelli was an Italian sculptor.Romanelli was born in Florence, the son of sculptor Raffaello Romanelli, who created works such as the "Monument to Garibaldi" for Siena, in a vigorously impressionistic 'verist' style...

.