Saint Jerome of the Croats is the national Catholic church of Croatia on Via Tomacelli in the Campus Martius of Rome. It is now a chapel of the Pontifical Croatian College of Saint Jerome in Rome and is only open to visitors by arrangement with the College. San Girolamo degli Schiavoni

Name

It is also known as "St. Jerome of the Illyrians" ( it, San Girolamo degli Illirici), and was formerly known as "St. Jerome of the Slavs" ( it, San Girolamo degli Schiavoni).

History

It was first built in 1585-1587 for refugees from areas ruled by the Turks, and dedicated to St Jerome, who was from

Dalmatia Dalmatia (; hr, Dalmacija ; it, Dalmazia; see #Name, names in other languages) is one of the four historical region, historical regions of Croatia, alongside Croatia proper, Slavonia, and Istria. Dalmatia is a narrow belt of the east shore of ...

(former Roman '' Illyricum''). The small, ruined church of Santa Marina de Posterula had been given to them in 1453 (the year of the

Fall of Constantinople The Fall of Constantinople, also known as the Conquest of Constantinople, was the capture of the capital of the Byzantine Empire by the Ottoman Empire. The city fell on 29 May 1453 as part of the culmination of a 53-day siege which had begun o ...

) by Pope Nicholas V, for the construction of a church and hospice. It once faced the port built on the Tiber River, called the Porto di Ripetta. The confraternity was renamed Congregatio or "Society of St. Jerome" in 1544.

Architecture

Around 1588,

Pope Sixtus V Pope Sixtus V ( it, Sisto V; 13 December 1521 – 27 August 1590), born Felice Piergentile, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 24 April 1585 to his death in August 1590. As a youth, he joined the Franciscan order ...

, who as Cardinal Montalvo had served as cardinal-protector, commissioned Martino Longhi the Elder to completely rebuild the church and add a bell tower. The late Renaissance façade is of travertine, decorated with the pope’s emblems. The fresco on the interior cupola was done in a Trompe-l'œil effect by Giovanni Guerra around 1590. The Evangelists on the pendentives are by Paolo Guidotti.

Andrea Lilio Andrea Lilio (1555 - 1642) was an Italian painter born in Ancona, hence he also is known as ''L'Anconitano''. He painted mainly in his native city, as well as in Rome, where he was active from the beginning of the 17th century until around 1640 ...

provided frescoes for the transept side vaults. Most of them had previously done work for Sixtus at the Vatican. Frescoes in the nave were completed by

Pietro Gagliardi Pietro Gagliardi (9 August 1809 – 19 September 1890) was an Italian painter and architect, who decorated many churches and palaces in Rome and throughout Italy. Biography Gagliardi was born in Rome on 9 August 1809 to Francesco (of Campania ...

in 1847 from a bequest of

Pope Pius IX Pope Pius IX ( it, Pio IX, ''Pio Nono''; born Giovanni Maria Mastai Ferretti; 13 May 1792 – 7 February 1878) was head of the Catholic Church from 1846 to 1878, the longest verified papal reign. He was notable for convoking the First Vatican ...

. The church underwent restoration in 2018 after the earthquakes of two years prior.

Burials

Early burials took place in the guesthouse cemetery. * Juraj Barakovic, poet, 1628 * Johannes Lucius, historian, 1679 * Ivan Paštrić, linguist, 1708

List of Cardinal Protectors

Prospero Santacroce Prospero Pubblicola Santacroce (24 September 1514 – 2 October 1589) was an Italian Roman Catholic bishop and cardinal. Biography Santacroce was born in Rome on September 24, 1514, the son of Tarquinio Santacroce and Ersilia de' Massimi. He wa ...

8 February 1566 - 12 April 1570 * Felice Peretti 9 June 1570 - 24 April 1585 * Alessandro Damasceni Peretti 14 June 1585 - 24 April 1585 * Pedro de Deza 20 April 1587 - 18 August 1597 * Simeone Tagliavia d'Aragonia 18 August 1587 - 21 February 1600 * Felice Centini 12 September 1612 - 12 August 1613 * Matteo Priuli 17 October 1616 - 23 June 1621 *

Giovanni Delfino (camerlengo) Cardinal Giovanni Dolfin, often Italianized as Delfin or Delfino (Venice, 15 December 1545 - Venice, 25 November 1622), was an Italian politician and cardinal. He was one of several cardinals from his family by this name. He is the uncle of Cardi ...

23 June 1621 - 23 August 1622 * Péter Pázmány 31 May 1632 - 19 March 1637 * Girolamo Buonvisi 23 April 1657 - 21 February 1670 * Felice Piretti di Montalvo 20 November 1570 - 24 March 1585 * Lipót Kollonics 14 November 1689 - 20 January 1707 *

Cornelio Bentivoglio Cornelio Bentivoglio (27 March 1668 – 30 December 1732) was an Italian nobleman and cardinal. Born at Ferrara to the powerful Bentivoglio family, and a relative of the cardinal Guido Bentivoglio (1579 – 1644). Cornelio went to Rome at an e ...

15 April 1720 - 25 June 1727 * Leandro Porzia 10 May 1728 - 20 September 1728 * Sinitaldo Doria 17 December 1731 - 2 December 1733 * Giacomoi Oddi 5 April 1745 - 12 January 1756 * Pietro Paolo de Conti 19 November 1759 - 25 March 1763 * Franziskus von Paula Herzan von Harras 11 December 1780 - 13 September 1782 * 11 April 1785 - 11 April 1791 * Cesare Brancadoro 20 July 1801 - 29 May 1820 * Gabriel della Genga Sermattei 21 November 1836 - 10 February 1861 * Antonio Maria Panebianco 30 September 1861 - 23 December 1861 * Giuseppe Andrea Bizzarri 19 March 1863 - 5 July 1875 * Luigi Serafini 20 March 1877 - 1 June 1888 *

Serafino Vannutelli Serafino Vannutelli (26 November 1834 – 19 August 1915) was an Italian prelate of the Catholic Church, a cardinal and official of the Roman Curia where he held several of the highest administrative posts. Made a cardinal in 1887, he was named ...

11 February 1889 - 12 June 1893 * Lorinc Schlauch 21 May 1894 - 10 July 1902 * Andrea Aiuti 12 November 1903 - 28 April 1905 *

Frantisek Salesky Bauer Franziskus von Sales Bauer (26 January 1841 – 25 November 1915) was an Austro-Hungarian Cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as Bishop of Brno (1882–1904) and later Archbishop of Olomouc from 1904 until his death, and was elevat ...

2 December 1912 - 25 November 1915 *

Raffaele Scapinelli di Leguigno Raffaele Scapinelli di Leguigno (April 25, 1858 – September 16, 1933) was an Italian Cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as Prefect of the Congregation of the Affairs of Religious from 1918 to 1920, and was elevated to the cardi ...

7 December 1916 - 16 September 1933 * Santiago Luis Copello 19 December 1935 - 14 December 1959 * Gustavo Testa 17 December 1959 - 28 February 1969 * Paolo Bertoli 5 March 1973 - 30 June 1979 * Franjo Kuharić 2 February 1983 - 11 March 2002 * Josip Bozanić 21 October 2003 – present

References

Sources

* Mariano Armellini
''Le chiese di Roma dal secolo IV al XIX'', Roma 1891
pp. 328–329 * Christian Hülsen
''Le chiese di Roma nel Medio Evo'', Firenze 1927
pp. 380–381

pp. 396–397 {{Authority control Titular churches Saint Jerome of the Croats National churches in Rome Churches of Rome (rione Campo Marzio)