The Churches of Rome

The locations of all places are shown on my Google-Earth Map

Less-known Churches “Fuori Le Mura”

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Basilica S. Paolo Fuori le Mura
Apse Mosaic, 13th cent

The first church on the site was founded by Emperor Constantine and consecrated in 324. In 386 Emperor Theodosius demolished the original church and began the construction of a much larger basilica. According to the inscription on the triumphal arch, it was consecrated in 390 by Siricius, and completed in 395 under Emperor Honorius. Although heavily restored, the present basilica looks much the same as it did in the 4th century.

The Interior

All that remains of the medieval basilica is the 13th-century apse mosaic, created by Venetian artists.

San Lorenzo Fuori le Mura
Another forgotten place next to the large ancient Verano cemetery, 6^th and 13^th cent

San Lorenzo fuori le Mura is a Byzantine basilica with a wealth of early Christian artifacts. It is located next to an ancient cemetery still in use today.

In 576 Pope Pelagius III rebuilt an earlier basilica San Lorenzo at this location. Close to the present church there was a second church of the 5 century dedicated to the Virgin Mary. In the 13^th cent. Pope Honorius III (1216-27) retained the Byzantine basilica, but removed its apse and joined it with the 5th-century Marian church of Pope Sixtus to create a new nave, aisles, and narthex extending to the west.

The two levels (the women's empore) and the triumphal arch of the Byzantine church joined to the Marian extension

The 13^th cent mosaic of the Triumphal Arch of the Byzantine part

San Lorenzo is now used as the church of the huge cemetery of Verano, usually not shown on standard tours. Its many funerary artifacts include a remarkable modern monument to the Roman victims of the Nazi occupation and in its northeren section many Jewish graves.
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Dio Padre Misericordioso
Richard Meier's revolutionary church (for Rome!) in the eastern satellite suburb of Tor Tre Teste, 2006

Quoted from Wikipedia: “The Jubilee Church, formally known as Dio Padre Misericordioso, is the church of the community center in Tor Tre Teste in Rome. According to Richard Meier, its architect, it is "the crown jewel of the Vicariato di Roma's (Archdiocese of Rome) Millennium project". The Church serves eight thousand residents of the Tor Tre Teste area and was meant to socially revive Tor Tre Teste. (The conservative, if not right-wing, Wikipedia reviewer doubts it does!)
The south side of the church features three large curved walls of pre-cast concrete. (The walls form segments of spheres.) Meier claims to have designed the church to minimize thermal peak loads inside. The walls also contain titanium dioxide to keep the appearance of the church white. Enrico Borgarello, the director of research and development for Italcementi, the company that designed the cement, claims that the cement destroys air pollution.”

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