Sant'Atanasio dei Greci

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Basic data
Patronage : St. Athanasius
Consecration day : May 7, 1583
Cardinal priest : Lucian Mureșan
Address:
Via del Babuino / Via dei Greci

00187 Roma

The facade with a view from Via del Babuino

Sant'Atanasio dei Greci is a church in Rome . It was built in the second half of the 16th century and has come under various orders over the years. It is the church of the Pontificio Collegio Greco and titular church of the Roman Catholic Church .

location

The church is located in the IV. Roman Rione Campo Marzio about 220 meters northwest of the Piazza di Spagna with the famous Spanish Steps .

History and building history

The construction of the church is related in a broader sense to the siege and the fall of Constantinople as well as the other conditions in the byzantine Empire . As a result of the new political situation, it was no longer possible to train Greek-speaking seminarians there. As a result, Pope Gregory XIII issued. 1576 a bull in which he ordered the establishment of a Greek-speaking seminary in Rome. The management of this Collegio Greco - hence the name of the church - he entrusted to a committee of four cardinals . One of these four, Cardinal Giulio Antonio Santorio , laid the foundation stone for the church on November 23, 1580. The church was completed in 1583 after a revision of the plans and further construction work. Although it arose out of necessity, it nonetheless fits into the great Roman building program of the Counter Reformation and is therefore historically related to the construction of churches such as B. Santa Maria ai Monti , but also the construction of St. Peter's Basilica . The Pope personally read the first mass. The church and facade were probably worked according to plans by Giacomo della Porta , which is now considered secure. Previously, other builders, such as Francesco da Volterra or Martino Longhi the Elder , had also been associated with it. The history of the medals supervising the college is changeable. The church and college were subordinate to the Jesuits until they were abolished in 1773, although this was interrupted from 1602 to 1621 by temporary possession of the Dominicans . From 1773 the college was administered directly by Propaganda Fide , but only until 1803. It was vacant until 1845. After that, Resurrectionists took over the administration in 1886, only to be replaced by the Jesuits four years later. The last transfer took place in 1897 to the Benedictines , whose Belgian congregation Church and College have been subordinate to the present day since 1919. In 1956, the leadership of the Benedictine convent of Chevetogne was appointed . Pope John XXIII elevated the church to title church in 1962. The title holders were the cardinals Gabriel Acacius Coussa and then Jossyf Slipyj , since his death in 1984 the title was vacant. On February 18, 2012, Pope Benedict XVI appointed in the ordinary consistory the Romanian Greek Catholic Archbishop Lucian Mureșan as the new cardinal priest of St. Athanasius.

Giacomo della Porta's draft for the floor plan

facade

The facade is basically two-story and five-axis, with the three central axes emerging in the form of a central risalite . The facade is unplastered - not typical for Roman churches - only a few elements are made of travertine . The two outer axes carry the facade towers, this element appears for the first time in the architecture of Roman churches. In the basement, pilasters subdivide the area according to the Tuscan order , on the sides of the central projection they are placed again. The travées of the two outer axes of the risalit are broken through by niches, above which are small panels with inscriptions. The outermost axes each have a flat, rectangular recess. The actual entrance is designed in the form of an aedicule portal . The upper floor rises above the cornice with the dedication inscription, the pilasters here are designed according to the Ionic order . A round arched window with a triangular gable is inserted in the central axis, and inscriptions in Latin and Greek are placed in the adjacent areas . The texts are about building the church. The clock below the turret on the left is a gift from Pope Clement XI. from the year 1771. A triangular gable completes the facade of the central projection. The pilasters of the towers follow the Corinthian order , the bases of the towers are octagonal.

Interior

The church has a single nave with a side chapel on each side of the nave. The arms of the transept are semicircular, so that they almost form a triconch arrangement with the choir , which is rare in the architecture of Roman churches. The church is covered by a barrel vault with stitch caps , the crossing is not domed, but closed in the form of a stitch cap barrel .

The interior is structured by pilasters according to the Corinthian order, they are placed in pairs. In the left and right side chapels there are frescoes by Francesco Tribaldese in stucco framing on the altar . These were made in 1583, they represent an Annunciation in the left chapel , in the right the subject of Jesus among the scribes is depicted.

In the right transept, the fresco on the altar was probably made by Giuseppe Cesari , called Cavaliere d'Arpino , the subject shown is the Assumption of the Virgin . A picture with the head of Christ in the transept of the grave of Demetrio Falereos, who died in the 17th century, is a German work donated by the deceased to the church, created around 1500.

The left transept also contains a fresco attributed to Cesari, depicting a crucifixion .

According to its rite, the church has an iconostasis in front of the choir, a more recent work from the last quarter of the 19th century.

Buried in the church are two archbishops , Dionysius Modinò von Milet and Stephan Missir , a former rector of the college, who died in 1863.

See also

List of Cardinal Priests of Sant'Atanasio dei Greci

literature

  • Walter Buchowiecki: Handbook of the Churches of Rome . 1st volume, Brothers Hollinek publishing house, Vienna 1967.
  • Marco Bussagli (Ed.): Rome - Art & Architecture. Könemann, Cologne 1999, ISBN 3-8290-2258-1 .
  • Mariano Armellini: Le Chiese di Roma . Roma 1891.

Web links

Commons : Sant'Atanasio dei Greci  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. a b c d e f g h Buchowiecki: Handbook of the Churches of Rome , p. 422.
  2. Bussagli (Ed.): Rom - Art & Architecture , p. 419.

Coordinates: 41 ° 54 ′ 28.1 "  N , 12 ° 28 ′ 45.7"  E