The Basilica of St. Mary of the Angels and of the Martyrs ( la, Beatissimae Virginis et omnium Angelorum et Martyrum, it, Santa Maria degli Angeli e dei Martiri) is a

basilica In Ancient Roman architecture, a basilica is a large public building with multiple functions, typically built alongside the town's forum. The basilica was in the Latin West equivalent to a stoa in the Greek East. The building gave its nam ...

and

titular church In the Catholic Church, a titular church is a church in Rome that is assigned to a member of the clergy who is created a cardinal. These are Catholic churches in the city, within the jurisdiction of the Diocese of Rome, that serve as honorary des ...

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus ( legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

, built inside the ruined ''

frigidarium A frigidarium is one of the three main bath chambers of a Roman bath or ''thermae'', namely the cold room. It often contains a swimming pool. The succession of bathing activities in the ''thermae'' is not known with certainty, but it is thought ...

'' of the Roman Baths of Diocletian in the Piazza della Repubblica. It was constructed in the 16th century following an original design by

Michelangelo Buonarroti Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni (; 6 March 1475 – 18 February 1564), known as Michelangelo (), was an Italian sculptor, painter, architect, and poet of the High Renaissance. Born in the Republic of Florence, his work was in ...

. Other architects and artists added to the church over the following centuries. During the

Kingdom of Italy The Kingdom of Italy ( it, Regno d'Italia) was a state that existed from 1861, when Victor Emmanuel II of Kingdom of Sardinia, Sardinia was proclamation of the Kingdom of Italy, proclaimed King of Italy, until 1946, when civil discontent led to ...

, the church was used for religious state functions.

Description

The basilica is dedicated to the

Christian martyrs In Christianity, a martyr is a person considered to have died because of their testimony for Jesus or faith in Jesus. In years of the early church, stories depict this often occurring through death by sawing, stoning, crucifixion, burning at th ...

, known and unknown. By a brief dated 27 July 1561, Pius IV ordered the church "built", to be dedicated to the ''Beatissimae Virgini et omnium Angelorum et Martyrum'' ("the Most Blessed Virgin of all the Angels and Martyrs"). Impetus for this dedication had been generated by the account of a purported vision of experienced in 1541 at Santa Maria di Loreto, Rome of the ruins of the Baths by a Sicilian monk, Antonio del Duca, who had been lobbying for decades for papal authorization of a more formal veneration of the Angels."The Basilica", S. Maria degli Angeli e dei Martiri
/ref> It was also a personal monument of

Pope Pius IV Pope Pius IV ( it, Pio IV; 31 March 1499 – 9 December 1565), born Giovanni Angelo Medici, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 25 December 1559 to his death in December 1565. Born in Milan, his family considered ...

, whose tomb is in the

apsidal In architecture, an apse (plural apses; from Latin 'arch, vault' from Ancient Greek 'arch'; sometimes written apsis, plural apsides) is a semicircular recess covered with a hemispherical vault or semi-dome, also known as an ''exedra''. In ...

tribune Tribune () was the title of various elected officials in ancient Rome. The two most important were the tribunes of the plebs and the military tribunes. For most of Roman history, a college of ten tribunes of the plebs acted as a check on th ...

. The ''

thermae In ancient Rome, (from Greek , "hot") and (from Greek ) were facilities for bathing. usually refers to the large imperial bath complexes, while were smaller-scale facilities, public or private, that existed in great numbers throughout ...

'' of Diocletian dominated the Viminal Hill with their ruined mass.

worked from 1563 to 1564 to adapt a section of the remaining structure of the baths to enclose a church. Upon Michelangelo's death in 1564, the work was carried on by his pupil,

Jacopo Del Duca Giacomo Del Duca (c. 1520 – 1604) was an Italian sculptor and architect during the late-Renaissance or Mannerist period. He is most remembered for assisting Michelangelo in a number of projects in Rome, including the sculpture and construction o ...

. Some later construction was directed by

Luigi Vanvitelli Luigi Vanvitelli (; 12 May 1700 – 1 March 1773), known in Dutch as (), was an Italian architect and painter. The most prominent 18th-century architect of Italy, he practised a sober classicising academic Late Baroque style that made an eas ...

in 1749. In 1911, the Vanvitellian façade on Piazza Esedra was demolished to restore the suggestive niche of the calidarium with Roman bricks. This intervention, however, made the church less visible, and often mistaken for a ruin."Basilica di Santa Maria degli Angeli e dei Martiri", Turismo Roma, Dipartimento Grandi Eventi, Sport, Turismo e Moda
/ref> Entrance to the Santa Maria degli Angeli e dei Martiri

Entrance to the Santa Maria degli Angeli e dei Martiri

At Santa Maria degli Angeli, Michelangelo achieved a sequence of shaped architectural spaces, developed from a

Greek cross The Christian cross, with or without a figure of Christ included, is the main religious symbol of Christianity. A cross with a figure of Christ affixed to it is termed a ''crucifix'' and the figure is often referred to as the ''corpus'' (La ...

, with a dominant

transept A transept (with two semitransepts) is a transverse part of any building, which lies across the main body of the building. In cruciform churches, a transept is an area set crosswise to the nave in a cruciform ("cross-shaped") building with ...

, with cubical chapels at each end, and the effect of a transverse nave. There is no true facade; the simple entrance, with its unique concave brick shape, is one of the ancient exedras of the calidarium of the ''thermae''. The great vaulted transept emphasized the scale of the Roman constructions, 90.8 meters long, and with the floor that Michelangelo raised to bring it up to the 16th century street level, 28 meters high. Raising the floor truncated the red granite Roman columns that articulate the transept and its flanking spaces. Michelangelo made the transept 27 meters wide, thus providing vast cubical spaces at each end of the transept. The vestibule with canted corners and identical side chapels—one chapel has the tomb of

Salvator Rosa Salvator Rosa (1615 –1673) is best known today as an Italian Baroque painter, whose romanticized landscapes and history paintings, often set in dark and untamed nature, exerted considerable influence from the 17th century into the early 19t ...

, the other of

Carlo Maratta Carlo Maratta or Maratti (13 May 162515 December 1713) was an Italian painter, active mostly in Rome, and known principally for his classicizing paintings executed in a Late Baroque Classical manner. Although he is part of the classical tradition ...

—leads to a second vestibule, repeated on the far side of the transept, dominated by the over lifesize ''Saint

Bruno of Cologne Bruno of Cologne, O.Cart. (german: Bruno von Köln, it, Bruno di Colonia;c. 1030 – 6 October 1101), venerated as Saint Bruno, was the founder of the Carthusian Order. He personally founded the order's first two communities. He was a celebrate ...

'' by Jean Antoine Houdon (1766). Of the ''Saint Bruno'', Pope Clement XIV said that he would speak, were it not for the vow of silence of the order he founded. The

Carthusian The Carthusians, also known as the Order of Carthusians ( la, Ordo Cartusiensis), are a Latin enclosed religious order of the Catholic Church. The order was founded by Bruno of Cologne in 1084 and includes both monks and nuns. The order has i ...

monks held both the Church and the monastery from 1581 to 1873. The monastery is now a museum. The Chapel of San Bruno houses the organ of Formentelli from the Millenium Jubilee. Made by the organ builder Bartolomeo Formentelli from Verona, it was a gift to

Pope John Paul II Pope John Paul II ( la, Ioannes Paulus II; it, Giovanni Paolo II; pl, Jan Paweł II; born Karol Józef Wojtyła ; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 1978 until his ...

from the city of Rome. In 2006, Polish-born sculptor

Igor Mitoraj Igor Mitoraj (Polish pronunciation: ; 26 March 1944 – 6 October 2014) was a Polish artist and sculptor. Known for his fragmented sculptures of the human body often created for large-scale public installations, he is considered one of the most i ...

created new bronze doors as well as a statue of

John the Baptist John the Baptist or , , or , ;Wetterau, Bruce. ''World history''. New York: Henry Holt and Company. 1994. syc, ܝܘܿܚܲܢܵܢ ܡܲܥܡܕ݂ܵܢܵܐ, Yoḥanān Maʿmḏānā; he, יוחנן המטביל, Yohanān HaMatbil; la, Ioannes Bapti ...

for the basilica. In April 2010, a five-metre-high () bronze statue of

Galileo Galilei Galileo di Vincenzo Bonaiuti de' Galilei (15 February 1564 – 8 January 1642) was an Italian astronomer, physicist and engineer, sometimes described as a polymath. Commonly referred to as Galileo, his name was pronounced (, ). He ...

Divine Man (designed by 1957 Nobel laureate

Tsung-Dao Lee Tsung-Dao Lee (; born November 24, 1926) is a Chinese-American physicist, known for his work on parity violation, the Lee–Yang theorem, particle physics, relativistic heavy ion (RHIC) physics, nontopological solitons, and soliton stars ...

) was unveiled in a courtyard within the complex. The statue (a dedication to the 17th-century scientist and philosopher) was a donation from CCAST (

China Center of Advanced Science and Technology The China Center of Advanced Science and Technology (CCAST; ) was established on October 17, 1986, by the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Chinese Government. History The China Center of Advanced Science and Technology was established in 19 ...

) and WFS (World Federation of Scientists). Santa Maria degli Angeli was the official state church of the

(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 Paolo Camillo Thaon, Marquess of Revel (10 June 1859 – 24 March 1948), latterly titled with the honorary title of 1st Duke of the Sea, was an Italian admiral of the ''Regia Marina'' during World War I and later a politician. Early life a ...

, 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 meridian line

At the beginning of the 18th century,

Pope Clement XI Pope Clement XI ( la, Clemens XI; it, Clemente XI; 23 July 1649 – 19 March 1721), born Giovanni Francesco Albani, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 23 November 1700 to his death in March 1721. Clement XI w ...

commissioned the astronomer, mathematician, archaeologist, historian and philosopher

Francesco Bianchini Francesco Bianchini (13 December 16622 March 1729) was an Italian philosopher and scientist. He worked for the curia of three popes, including being ''camiere d'honore'' of Clement XI, and secretary of the commission for the reform of the cale ...

to build a meridian line, a sort of

sundial A sundial is a horological device that tells the time of day (referred to as civil time in modern usage) when direct sunlight shines by the apparent position of the Sun in the sky. In the narrowest sense of the word, it consists of a f ...

, within the basilica. Completed in 1702, the object had a threefold purpose: the pope wanted to check the accuracy of the Gregorian reformation of the calendar, to produce a tool to predict

Easter Easter,Traditional names for the feast in English are "Easter Day", as in the '' Book of Common Prayer''; "Easter Sunday", used by James Ussher''The Whole Works of the Most Rev. James Ussher, Volume 4'') and Samuel Pepys''The Diary of Samue ...

exactly, and, not least, to give Rome a meridian line as important as the one Giovanni Domenico Cassini had recently built in

Bologna Bologna (, , ; egl, label= Emilian, Bulåggna ; lat, Bononia) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in Northern Italy. It is the seventh most populous city in Italy with about 400,000 inhabitants and 150 different na ...

's basilica of San Petronio, San Petronio. Alan Cook remarked, "The disposition, the stability and the precision are much better than those of the famous meridian... in Bologna". This church was chosen for several reasons: (1) Like other baths in Rome, the building was already naturally southerly oriented, so as to receive unobstructed exposure to the sun; (2) the height of the walls allowed for a long line to measure the sun's progress through the year more precisely; (3) the ancient walls had long since stopped settling into the ground, ensuring that carefully calibrated observational instruments set in them would not move out of place; and (4) because it was set in the former baths of

Diocletian Diocletian (; la, Gaius Aurelius Valerius Diocletianus, grc, Διοκλητιανός, Diokletianós; c. 242/245 – 311/312), nicknamed ''Iovius'', was Roman emperor from 284 until his abdication in 305. He was born Gaius Valerius Diocles ...

, it would symbolically represent a victory of the Christian calendar over the earlier pagan calendar. Bianchini's sundial was built along the meridian that crosses Rome, at longitude 12° 30' E. At solar noon, which varies according to the equation of time from around 10:54 a.m. UTC in late October to 11.24 a.m. UTC in February (11:54 to 12:24 CET), the sun shines through a small hole in the wall to cast its light on this line each day. At the summer

solstice A solstice is an event that occurs when the Sun appears to reach its most northerly or southerly excursion relative to the celestial equator on the celestial sphere. Two solstices occur annually, around June 21 and December 21. In many count ...

, the sun appears highest, and its ray hits the meridian line at the point closest to the wall. At the winter solstice, the ray crosses the line at the point furthest from the wall. At either

equinox A solar equinox is a moment in time when the Sun crosses the Earth's equator, which is to say, appears directly above the equator, rather than north or south of the equator. On the day of the equinox, the Sun appears to rise "due east" and se ...

, the sun touches the line between these two extremes. The longer the meridian line, the more accurately the observer can calculate the length of the year. The meridian line built here is 45 meters long and is composed of

bronze Bronze is an alloy consisting primarily of copper, commonly with about 12–12.5% tin and often with the addition of other metals (including aluminium, manganese, nickel, or zinc) and sometimes non-metals, such as phosphorus, or metalloids suc ...

, enclosed in yellow-white

marble Marble is a metamorphic rock composed of recrystallized carbonate minerals, most commonly calcite or dolomite. Marble is typically not foliated (layered), although there are exceptions. In geology, the term ''marble'' refers to metamorphose ...

. In addition to using the line to measure the sun's meridian crossing, Bianchini also used the window behind the pope's coat of arms and a movable telescope to observe the passage of several stars such as Arcturus and

Sirius Sirius is the brightest star in the night sky. Its name is derived from the Greek word , or , meaning 'glowing' or 'scorching'. The star is designated α Canis Majoris, Latinized to Alpha Canis Majoris, and abbreviated Alpha CM ...

to determine their

right ascension Right ascension (abbreviated RA; symbol ) is the angular distance of a particular point measured eastward along the celestial equator from the Sun at the March equinox to the ( hour circle of the) point in question above the earth. When pair ...

s and

declination In astronomy, declination (abbreviated dec; symbol ''δ'') is one of the two angles that locate a point on the celestial sphere in the equatorial coordinate system, the other being hour angle. Declination's angle is measured north or south of th ...

s. The meridian line was restored in 2002 for the tricentenary of its construction, and it is still operational today.

Cardinal Protectors since 1687

The Church of S. Maria degli Angeli was designated a titular church for a cardinal priest on 15 May 1565 by

. Since 1687,For the period 1565–1592, see Guilelmus van Gulik and Conradus Eubel, ''Hierarchia catholica medii et recentioris aevi'' Volumen III (Monasterii 1923), p. 65. For the period 1593–1687, see Patricius Gauchat, ''Hierarchia catholica medii et recentioris aevi'' Volumen IV (Monasterii 1935), p. 45. the following prelates have served as cardinal protector of Santa Maria degli Angeli e dei Martiri: * Sigismondo Pappacoda (December 1527 – November 1536) * Giovanni Antonio Serbelloni (15 May 1565 – 12 April 1570) * Prospero Santacroce (12 April 1570 – 5 May 1575 * Giovanni Francesco Commendone (5 July 1574 – 9 January 1584) *

Mark Sittich von Hohenems Mark Sittich von Hohenems Altemps (1533–1595) was a German Roman Catholic bishop and cardinal. The addition of ''Altemps'' to the family name reflects ''Alt-Ems'' (or ''Alt-Embs'') itself deriving from "Alta Embs" (Latin for "altus" = high), li ...

(3 October 1577 – 3 October 1578) * Simeone Tagliavia d'Aragona (20 May 1585 – 9 December 1592) * Federico Borromeo (25 October 1593 – 21 September 1631) * Ernst Adalbert von Harrach (7 June 1632 – 18 July 1667 *

Marzio Ginetti Marzio Ginetti (6 April 1585 – 1 March 1671) was an Italian Catholic Cardinal and Cardinal Vicar of Rome. Early life Ginetti was born in Velletri, the son of a labourer. He was sent to Rome at a very young age to be educated and tried to mak ...

(17 October 1644 – 19 February 1646) * Niccolo Albergati-Ludovisi (25 June 1646 – 11 October 1666) *

Antonio Bichi Antonio Bichi (1614–1691) was a Roman Catholic cardinal. Biography He was born in Siena to Onorata Mignanelli and Fermano Bichi. Antonio's maternal uncle was Pope Alexander VII, who named him cardinal ''in pectore'' by 1657.Raimondo Capizucchi Raimondo Capizucchi (born as Camillo Biagio; 7 November 1616 – 20 April 1691) was a Roman nobleman, Dominican friar, appointed a cardinal by Pope Innocent XI. Biography Camillo Biagio Capizucchi (or Cappisucchi) was born in Rome in 1616.Nitti ...

, O.P. (3 March 1687 — 22 April 1691) * Étienne Le Camus (8 August 1691 — 12 September 1707) * Giuseppe Vallemani (28 November 1707 — 15 December 1725) * Melchior de Polignac (19 December 1725 — 20 November 1741) * Camillo Cybo (20 December 1741 — 12 January 1743) *

Giovanni Battista Spínola Giovanni Battista Spinola (1681–1752) was a Roman Catholic Cardinal. He was the nephew of Giambattista Spínola (iuniore). Early in his life he served as the governor in Benevento in 1711 and the governor in Rimini in 1717–1719. He also se ...

(23 September 1743 — 15 November 1751) *

Girolamo de Bardi Girolamo is an Italian variant of the name Hieronymus. Its English equivalent is Jerome. It may refer to: * Girolamo Cardano (1501–1576), Italian Renaissance mathematician, physician, astrologer and gambler * Girolamo Cassar (c. 1520 – after ...

(28 May 1753 — 11 March 1761) * Filippo Acciaioli (6 April 1761 — 24 July 1766) * Giovanni Ottavio Bufalini (6 August 1766 — 3 August 1782) *

Guglielmo Pallotta Guglielmo Pallotta (13 November 1727 – 21 September 1795) was an Italian Roman Catholic Cardinal. Biography Born in Macerata, Marche, he studied hydraulics and law in Rome and then was ordained priest. Later he became auditor of Cardinal Carlo ...

(23 September 1782 — 21 September 1795) *

Ignazio Busca Ignazio Busca (31 August 1731 in Milan – 12 August 1803 in Rome) was an Italian cardinal and Secretary of State of the Holy See. He was the last son of Lodovico Busca, marquess of Lomagna and Bianca Arconati Visconti. he took a degree in '' ut ...

(18 December 1795 — 12 August 1803) * Filippo Casoni (26 March 1804 — 9 October 1811) *

Giuseppe Morozzo Della Rocca Giuseppe is the Italian form of the given name Joseph, from Latin Iōsēphus from Ancient Greek Ἰωσήφ (Iōsḗph), from Hebrew יוסף. It is the most common name in Italy and is unique (97%) to it. The feminine form of the name is Giuse ...

(8 March 1816 — 22 March 1842) *

Mario Mattei Mario Mattei (6 September 1792, Pergola, Marche – 7 October 1870) was an Italian Cardinal, of the Roman noble House of Mattei. He became Dean of the College of Cardinals in 1860. Personal life Mario Mattei was born on 6 September 1792 in Perg ...

(22 July 1842 — 17 June 1844) *

Domenico Carafa della Spina di Traetto Domenico Carafa della Spina di Traetto (12 July 1805 – 17 June 1879) was a Catholic Cardinal, Archbishop of Benevento and Camerlengo of the Sacred College of Cardinals. Personal life Carafa was born in Naples, Italy on 12 July 1805. He was the ...

(22 July 1844 – 12 May 1879) *

Lajos Haynald Stephan Franz Lajos (or Ludwig) Haynald (October 3, 1816, at Szécsény – July 3, 1891, at Kalocsa) was a Hungarian Archbishop of Kalocsa-Bács, naturalist, and cardinal. Life Having completed his studies in the secondary schools, he en ...

(12 May 1879 – 4 July 1891 ) * Anton Joseph Gruscha (1 June 1891 – 15 August 1911 ) *

Gennaro Granito Pignatelli di Belmonte Gennaro Granito Pignatelli di Belmonte (10 April 1851 – 16 February 1948) was an Italian Cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church and a prominent member of the Roman Curia. Biography Gennaro Granito Pignatelli di Belmonte was born in ...

(27 November 1911 – 6 December 1915) * Alfonso Mistrangelo, Sch. P. (6 December 1915 – 7 November 1930) * Jean-Marie-Rodrigue Villeneuve,

O.M.I. The Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate (OMI) is a missionary religious congregation in the Catholic Church. It was founded on January 25, 1816, by Eugène de Mazenod, a French priest born in Aix-en-Provence in the south of France on August 1, ...

(13 March 1933 – 17 January 1947 ) *

Paul-Émile Léger Paul-Émile Léger (April 26, 1904 – November 13, 1991) was a Canadian Cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as Archbishop of Montreal from 1950 to 1967, and was elevated to the cardinalate in 1953 by Pope Pius XII. Early life and ...

, PSS (12 January 1953 – 13 November 1991 ) *

William Henry Keeler William Henry Keeler (March 4, 1931 – March 23, 2017) was an American cardinal of the Catholic Church. He served as Archbishop of Baltimore, Maryland, from 1989 to 2007 and was elevated to the College of Cardinals in 1994. He previously serv ...

(26 November 1994 – 23 March 2017) *

Anders Arborelius Lars Anders Cardinal Arborelius (; born 24 September 1949) is a Swedish Catholic cardinal. He has been Bishop of Stockholm since 1998. Pope Francis made him a cardinal, the first ever from Sweden and Scandinavia, on 28 June 2017. Early life ...

OCD (28 June 2017 – present)

Burials

William Chisholm (II) William Chisholm (called II in some biographies; died 26 September 1593), bishop of Dunblane and bishop of Vaison, was a son of James Chisholm of Cromlix, and nephew to William Chisholm (I), bishop of Dunblane from 1527 to 1564, to whom he was ...

(d. 1673) * General Armando Diaz * Admiral

References

Sources

* Bernardi Salvetti, C. ''S. Maria degli Angeli alle Terme e Antonio Lo Duca'' (Paris: Desclée, 1965). * Matthiae, Guglielmo, ''S. Maria degli Angeli'' (Roma: Marietti, 1965). * Ackerman, James S., ''The Architecture of Michelangelo'' 2nd. ed. 1964:136-41. * De Angelis, P., ''Chiesa di Santa Maria degli Angeli alle Terme diocleziane'' (Roma: Coop. tip. Manuzio, 1920). * Soprintendenza per i beni ambientali e architettonici del Lazio (edd.), ''Santa Maria degli Angeli e dei Martiri: incontro di storie'' (Roma: La Meridiana editori, 1991). * Serlorenzi, Mirella, and Stefania Laurenti, ''Terme di Diocleziano, Santa Maria degli Angeli'' (Roma: EDUP, 2002). * Karmon, David, "Michelangelo's "Minimalism" in the Design of Santa Maria degli Angeli", in ''Annali di Architettura'' n° 20, Vicenza 200
on-line text
* Touring Club Italiano (TCI) ''Roma e Dintorni'' 1965:317f.

External links

Santa Maria degli Angeli e dei Martiri alle Terme di Diocleziano
official website. {{DEFAULTSORT:Maria Degli Angeli E Dei Martiri Maria Angeli Martiri Titular churches Burial places of popes 16th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in Italy Churches of Rome (rione Castro Pretorio) Michelangelo church buildings Luigi Vanvitelli buildings Uriel