Santa Maria ''Portae Paradisi'' is a

catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwide . It is am ...

church in Rome, in the

Rione A (; plural: ) is a neighbourhood in several Italian cities. A is a territorial subdivision. The larger administrative subdivisions in Rome are the , with the being used only in the historic centre. The word derives from the Latin , the 14 su ...

Campo Marzio Campo Marzio is the 4th ''rione'' of Rome, identified by the initials R. IV. It belongs to the Municipio I and covers a smaller section of the area of the ancient ''Campus Martius''. The logo of this rione is a silver crescent on a blue backgroun ...

, along

via di Ripetta Via di Ripetta, also called Via Ripetta, is a street in the historic centre of Rome (Italy), in the rione Campo Marzio, that links Piazza del Popolo to Via del Clementino and, with other toponyms (Via della Scrofa, Via della Dogana Vecchia), rea ...

History

The church, already known in the 9th century with the name ''Santa Maria in Augusta'', received the title ''in Porta Paradisi'', or simply ''Portae Paradisi'' (

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power ...

: "of the Gates of Heaven"), because it stood near one of the doors of the walls that surrounded the nearby

Mausoleum of Augustus The Mausoleum of Augustus ( it, Mausoleo di Augusto, italic=no) is a large tomb built by the Roman Emperor Augustus in 28 BC on the Campus Martius in Rome, Italy. The mausoleum is located on the Piazza Augusto Imperatore, near the corner with Via ...

, also called ''paradiseiois''. Another explanation is that nearby there was the cemetery (closed in 1836 for health reasons, due to a cholera outbreak) of the Hospital of ''San Giacomo in Augusta'', also called ''degli Incurabili'' (Italian: ''of the incurable''). The church was used for funeral ceremonies as it was close to the ancient hospital cemetery."Chiesa di Santa Maria Portae Paradisi", Religiana
/ref> In the 16th century the church was rebuilt by

Antonio da Sangallo the Younger 250px, A model of the Apostolic Palace, which was the main project of Bramante during Sangallo's apprenticeship. 250px, The church of Santa Maria di Loreto near the 250px">The 250px, 250px, View of St. Patrick's Well in Orvieto. Antonio da ...

and on that occasion took the current name. Its facade, giving on via di Ripetta, is preceded by a little porch and incorporates a marble relief depicting a ''Madonna and Child'', attributed to

Andrea Sansovino Andrea dal Monte Sansovino or Andrea Contucci del Monte San Savino (1529) was an Italian sculptor active during the High Renaissance. His pupils include Jacopo Sansovino (no relation). Biography He was the son of Domenico Contucci of Monte ...

. The interior has an octagonal plan and preserves works of art of the 17th century by Pietro Paolo Ubaldini, Cosimo Fancelli, Paolo Naldini. The pipe organ '' opus 447 '', made in 1962 by

organ builder Organ building is the profession of designing, building, restoring and maintaining pipe organs. The organ builder usually receives a commission to design an organ with a particular disposition of stops, manuals, and actions, creates a de ...

Tamburini, with 18 registers on two manuals and pedal, is located above the counter-façade.

References

Bibliography

Mariano Armellini Mariano Armellini (7 February 1852 – 24 February 1896) was an Italian archaeologist and historian. Born in Rome, he was one of the founders of the Pontifical Academy of Martyrs. He is the author of ''Gli antichi cimiteri cristiani di Roma e d'I ...

''Le chiese di Roma dal secolo IV al XIX'', Rome 1891
p. 326

p. 394 * Paola Raffaella David, [https://web.archive.org/web/20150402131450/http://www.architettura.unina2.it/docenti/areaprivata/329/documenti/Smaria_p_paradisi.pdf ''Interventi di conservazione nella chiesa di Santa Maria in Porta Paradisi a Roma''], in ''Bollettino d'Arte'', 112 (2000), pp. 101–115 * * *

* San Giacomo degli Incurabili {{Coord missing, Italy Churches of Rome (rione Campo Marzio), Maria Portae Paradisi

History

References

Bibliography

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