Santa Francesca Romana, previously known as Santa Maria Nova, is a 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, situated next to the Roman Forum

Roman Forum

The Roman Forum is a rectangular forum surrounded by the ruins of several important ancient government buildings at the center of the city of Rome. Citizens of the ancient city referred to this space, originally a marketplace, as the Forum Magnum, or simply the Forum...

.

History

The church was built in the second half of the 10th century, incorporating an eighth-century oratory

Oratory

Oratory is a type of public speaking.Oratory may also refer to:* Oratory , a power metal band* Oratory , a place of worship* a religious order such as** Oratory of Saint Philip Neri ** Oratory of Jesus...

 that Pope Paul I

Pope Paul I

Pope Paul I was pope from May 29, 757 to June 28, 767. He first served as a Roman deacon and was frequently employed by his brother, Pope Stephen II, in negotiations with the Lombard kings....

 excavated in the wing of the portico

Portico

A portico is a porch leading to the entrance of a building, or extended as a colonnade, with a roof structure over a walkway, supported by columns or enclosed by walls...

 of the Temple of Venus and Roma

Temple of Venus and Roma

The Temple of Venus and of Rome — in Latin, Templum Veneris et Romae — is thought to have been the largest temple in Ancient Rome. Located on the Velian Hill, between the eastern edge of the Forum Romanum and the Colosseum, it was dedicated to the goddesses Venus Felix and Roma Aeterna...

; it was named Santa Maria Nova ("new St. Mary"), to distinguish it from the other Roman Forum church devoted to St. Mary, Santa Maria Antiqua

Santa Maria Antiqua

The Ancient church of St Mary is a Roman Catholic Marian church in Rome, built in the 5th century in the Forum Romanum, and for long time the monumental access to the Palatine imperial palaces....

 ("ancient St. Mary"), which had become dilapidated in the 10th century; it was rebuilt by Pope Honorius II

Pope Honorius II

Pope Honorius II , born Lamberto Scannabecchi, was pope from December 21, 1124, to February 13, 1130. Although from a humble background, his obvious intellect and outstanding abilities saw him promoted through the ecclesiastical hierarchy...

 in the 13th century, when the campanile

Campanile

Campanile is an Italian word meaning "bell tower" . The term applies to bell towers which are either part of a larger building or free-standing, although in American English, the latter meaning has become prevalent.The most famous campanile is probably the Leaning Tower of Pisa...

 was built and the apse was decorated with mosaics of a Maestà

Maestà

Maestà, the Italian word for "majesty", designates an iconic formula of the enthroned Madonna with the child Jesus, whether or not accompanied with angels and saints...

, the Madonna enthroned accompanied by saints. The interior has been altered since. Since 1352 the church has been in the care of the Olivetans

Olivetans

The Olivetans, or the Order of Our Lady of Mount Olivet, are a monastic order formally recognised in 1344. They have formed the Olivetan Congregation within the Benedictine Confederation since 1960.-History:...

. In the 16th century the church was rededicated to Frances of Rome

Frances of Rome

Saint Frances of Rome, Obl.S.B., is an Italian saint who was a wife, mother, mystic, organizer of charitable services and a Benedictine oblate who founded a religious community of vowed oblates.- Biography :...

 (canonized in 1608), whose relics are in the crypt. Its travertine porch and façade is by Carlo Lambardi, and was completed in 1615.

The interior, in a single nave with side chapels, was rebuilt by Lambardi in the years preceding Francesca Buzzi's canonization, beginning in 1595. In the middle of the nave is the rectangular schola cantorum

Schola cantorum

The Schola cantorum was the trained papal choir during the Middle Ages, specializing in the performance of plainchant. Although legend associates them with the papacy of Gregory the Great, there is no historical evidence to support this claim. The Schola is attested in historical records...

of the old church, covered in Cosmatesque mosaics

Cosmatesque

Cosmatesque, or Cosmati, is a style of geometric decorative inlay stonework typical of Medieval Italy, and especially of Rome and its surroundings. It was used most extensively for the decoration of church floors, but was also used to decorate church walls, pulpits, and bishop's thrones...

. Another prominent feature is the confessional

Confessional

A confessional is a small, enclosed booth used for the Sacrament of Penance, often called confession, or Reconciliation. It is the usual venue for the sacrament in the Roman Catholic Church, but similar structures are also used in Anglican churches of an Anglo-Catholic orientation, and also in the...

 designed by Gian Lorenzo Bernini

Gian Lorenzo Bernini

Gian Lorenzo Bernini was an Italian artist who worked principally in Rome. He was the leading sculptor of his age and also a prominent architect...

 (1638-49), in polychrome marbles with four columns veneered in jasper

Jasper

Jasper, a form of chalcedony, is an opaque, impure variety of silica, usually red, yellow, brown or green in color; and rarely blue. This mineral breaks with a smooth surface, and is used for ornamentation or as a gemstone. It can be highly polished and is used for vases, seals, and at one time for...

.
The church houses the precious Madonna Glycophilousa ("our Lady of the tenderness"), an early 5th century icon

Icon

An icon is a religious work of art, most commonly a painting, from Eastern Christianity and in certain Eastern Catholic churches...

 brought from Santa Maria Antiqua. The twelfth-century Madonna and Child that had been painted over it was meticulously detached in 1950 from the panel and is now kept in the sacristy.

The ancient oratory on which the current church is built was located by Pope Paul I on the place in which Simon Magus

Simon Magus

Simon the Sorcerer or Simon the Magician, in Latin Simon Magus, was a Samaritan magus or religious figure and a convert to Christianity, baptised by Philip the Apostle, whose later confrontation with Peter is recorded in . The sin of simony, or paying for position and influence in the church, is...

 died. According to this legend, Simon Magus wanted to prove his powers as stronger than those of the apostles, and started levitating

Levitation

Levitation is the process by which an object is suspended by a physical force against gravity, in a stable position without solid physical contact...

 in front of Sts. Peter and Paul. The two apostles fell on their knees preaching, and Simon fell, dying. The basalt stones where the apostles were kept the imprints of their knees, and are embedded in the wall of the south transept.

The tomb of Pope Gregory XI, who returned the papacy to Rome from Avignon, reconstructed to a design by Per Paulo Olivieri (signed and dated 1584) is in the south transept.

The titulus of the church remains Sancta Mariae Novae; the current Cardinal Priest of the Titulus S. Mariae Novae is Angelo Sodano

Angelo Sodano

Angelo Sodano is an Italian Cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church. He is the current Dean of the College of Cardinals and former Vatican Secretary of State, having held that post from 1990 to 2006, under both popes John Paul II and Benedict XVI...

.

Saint Francesca Romana being the patron of car drivers, automobiles were lined up on the day of her feast (9 March) as far as the Colosseum

Colosseum

The Colosseum, or the Coliseum, originally the Flavian Amphitheatre , is an elliptical amphitheatre in the centre of the city of Rome, Italy, the largest ever built in the Roman Empire...

, to partake of the blessing.

The facade of the Church of Holy Cross College, in Clonliffe

Clonliffe

For the Dublin athletic club, see Clonliffe HarriersClonliffe is an area of north Dublin, Ireland between Ballybough and Drumcondra. Clonliffe Road is the wide linking thoroughfare nearly a mile long forming the central artery. There is an entrance at the Drumcondra end, to Holy Cross College and...

 in Dublin, Ireland

Ireland

Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...

, is a replica of Santa Francesca Romana. It was designed by the Gothic Architect J.J. McCarthy and is the only exception to his list of Gothic works.

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