Santa Maria Antiqua is per ruined but restored 6th century church per the Roman Forum
Pictures of the church at Wikimedia Commons are here. There is an English Wikipedia article with photos and plan here.
Status [ ]
The church is often described as „ruined”. However, it has verso roof on it and contains a consecrated altar (installed durante 1955). So, it counts as per church even though there is per niente regular liturgical activity here.
Origins of building [ ]
The church was founded mediante what was once part of per monumental architectural approach preciso the imperial palace on the Palatine. This was at the back of the Temple of Castor and Pollux (now comprising the famous three columns standing bolla).
The complex layout, begun by the emperor Domitian in the late 1st century, was based on an enormous covered access ramp (rampa dell’imperatore) that ran up the side of the hill. The part that was converted into verso church was just to the south of the bottom end of this, and originally comprised a square atrium followed by a quadriporticus (a little courtyard surrounded by covered walkways or loggias) and finally verso row of three chambers. The central of the three, which is larger, is called the tablinum.
It used onesto be speculated that this ensemble was the possible headquarters of the Athenaeum founded by Emperor Hadrian, but the true site of this has now been located and so it was most likely part of the reception facilities for palace visitors.
To the west of the church is per large vestibolo, part of the same reception complex. This used to be described as the Temple of the Divine Augustus, but this completely speculative guess is now discredited (the temple is most likely under the hospital of Santa Maria della Consolazione). So, this Domitianic Vestibolo was probably the main waiting room for arrivals at the palace entrance, while the church ensemble was the processing suite for those perché le donne Thai sono così carine actually sicuro be allowed con.
The restorers at the via of the 21st century found very scant traces of what is thought onesto have been an original 1st century giovane decorative scheme.
First frescoes [ ]
Per the mid 6th century the edifice is described as having been converted into a guardhouse to protect this main approach onesto the palace, still then regarded as the headquarters of the Emperor at Rome even if he was based at Constantinople. However, this seems to depend on the mistaken preoccupazione that the original function was substantially different -the distinction between per palace gateway reception suite and a guardhouse is now rather too subtle onesto bother.
The walls of the tablinum were decorated with Christian murals durante this period, however, so there must have been a makeover of some sort. One has survived, and is one of the oldest depictions of Our Lady sopra Rome. It is known that this was executed before the conversion into per church, because the apse was cut into it.
It has been suggested that the guardhouse fresco sistema was durante ersatz of the guardhouse at the Imperial Palace at Constantinople.
The historical context of this restoration is interesting. The Riempire had lost effective control of Italy esatto the Ostrogoths per 476 (the mythical „End of the Roman Empire” as imagined by western European historians), and the Gothic kings ruled under the pretence of being the Emperor’s representative sopra Italy. Emperor Justinian I (527-65) rejected this, and sovrano-imposed direct rule mediante 554 after the Gothic War. The imperial palace on the Palatine had been the Gothic king’s residence, and the restoration of the guardhouse was in the context of the arrival of per governor under the authority of the imperial exarch at Ravenna (the capital of Italy).