Sant'Agata dei Goti is a
church in Rome, Italy, dedicated to the martyr
Agatha of Sicily
Agatha of Sicily () is a Christian saint. Her feast is on 5 February. Agatha was born in Catania, part of the Roman Province of Sicily, and was martyred . She is one of several virgin martyrs who are commemorated by name in the Canon of the Mas ...
. It is the
''diaconia'' assigned to Cardinal
Raymond Leo Burke
Raymond Leo Burke (born June 30, 1948) is an American prelate of the Catholic Church. A bishop, cardinal, and the incumbent patron of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta, he led the Archdiocese of St. Louis from 2004 to 2008 and the Diocese ...
, patron of the
Sovereign Military Order of Malta
The Sovereign Military Order of Malta (SMOM), officially the Sovereign Military Hospitaller Order of Saint John of Jerusalem, of Rhodes and of Malta ( it, Sovrano Militare Ordine Ospedaliero di San Giovanni di Gerusalemme, di Rodi e di Malta; ...
. (It became ''pro hac vice'' title in 2021 when Cardinal Burke opted to become a cardinal priest.)
History
The church was built by
Ricimer
Flavius Ricimer ( , ; – 18/19 August 472) was a Romanized Germanic general who effectively ruled the remaining territory of the Western Roman Empire from 461 until his death in 472, with a brief interlude in which he contested power with An ...
for the
Goths
The Goths ( got, 𐌲𐌿𐍄𐌸𐌹𐌿𐌳𐌰, translit=''Gutþiuda''; la, Gothi, grc-gre, Γότθοι, Gótthoi) were a Germanic people who played a major role in the fall of the Western Roman Empire and the emergence of medieval Europe ...
c. 460. The Goths were
Arians
Arianism ( grc-x-koine, Ἀρειανισμός, ) is a Christological doctrine first attributed to Arius (), a Christian presbyter from Alexandria, Egypt. Arian theology holds that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, who was begotten by God t ...
, so when Arianism was suppressed in Rome, the building was taken over by the Catholic Church, in 592 or 593, and reconsecrated by Pope
Gregory the Great
Pope Gregory I ( la, Gregorius I; – 12 March 604), commonly known as Saint Gregory the Great, was the bishop of Rome from 3 September 590 to his death. He is known for instigating the first recorded large-scale mission from Rome, the Gregori ...
. It was restored in the 9th century, and a
Benedictine
, image = Medalla San Benito.PNG
, caption = Design on the obverse side of the Saint Benedict Medal
, abbreviation = OSB
, formation =
, motto = (English: 'Pray and Work')
, foun ...
monastery was founded next to it. The
apse
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 ...
of the church collapsed in 1589, and it was partially rebuilt in 1633,
without major changes to the building itself apart from the new apse. The small courtyard outside the church was laid out at this time.
The church has been served by the
Stigmatines
The Stigmatines officially named the Congregation of the Sacred Stigmata ( la, Congregatio a Sanctus Stigmatibus) is a Catholic clerical religious congregation of Pontifical Right for men (Priests and Brothers). The Stigmatine Congregation was fo ...
since 1926. Their generalate is adjacent to it. It is the only Arian church that has been preserved in
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 ...
.
Exterior
The Romanesque
campanile
A bell tower is a tower that contains one or more bells, or that is designed to hold bells even if it has none. Such a tower commonly serves as part of a Christian church, and will contain church bells, but there are also many secular bell tower ...
was built in the 12th century. The façade was rebuilt by
Francesco Ferrari in 1729. The relief above the door shows St. Agatha holding her severed breasts on a plate; her torturers severed her breasts when she refused to renounce her faith in Christ.
The entrance from Via Mazzarino opens on a 17th-century courtyard. From 1836 to 1926, it belonged to the Irish College.
Cardinal Paul Cullen, a former Rector of the Irish College, modelled the church of the Holy Cross College in Clonliffe in
Dublin
Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...
on the plans of St Agatha's.
Interior
![SAG (ROME) 11 06 2019 09](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/cc/SAG_%28ROME%29_11_06_2019_09.jpg)
Although it was redecorated in the
Baroque style
The Baroque (, ; ) is a style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished in Europe from the early 17th century until the 1750s. In the territories of the Spanish and Portuguese empires including t ...
and has some 19th-century additions, it is still possible to see traces of the 5th-century plan, which was 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 name ...
with three
naves
The nave () is the central part of a church, stretching from the (normally western) main entrance or rear wall, to the transepts, or in a church without transepts, to the chancel. When a church contains side aisles, as in a basilica-type b ...
. The granite columns separating the naves are ancient.
[
The ]fresco
Fresco (plural ''frescos'' or ''frescoes'') is a technique of mural painting executed upon freshly laid ("wet") lime plaster. Water is used as the vehicle for the dry-powder pigment to merge with the plaster, and with the setting of the plaste ...
in the apse shows the ''Glory of St Agatha'', made by Paolo Gismondi
Paolo Gismondi (known also as Paolo Perugino) (1612 in Perugia – 1685) was an Italian painter of the Baroque period.
He was a pupil of Giovanni Antonio Scaramuccia in Perugia, then of Pietro da Cortona in Rome. Under commission by Cardinal Ba ...
in the 17th century. A cherub bring the severed breasts of Agatha on a platter to the Virgin as an demonstration of her sacrifice. There is a 12th- or 13th-century canopy
Canopy may refer to:
Plants
* Canopy (biology), aboveground portion of plant community or crop (including forests)
* Canopy (grape), aboveground portion of grapes
Religion and ceremonies
* Baldachin or canopy of state, typically placed over an a ...
above the altar, reassembled and erected here in 1933. It has four columns of pavonazzetto marble, all decorated with Cosmatesque
Cosmatesque, or Cosmati, is a style of geometric decorative inlay stonework typical of the architecture of Medieval Italy, and especially of Rome and its surroundings. It was used most extensively for the decoration of church floors, but was also u ...
mosaic
A mosaic is a pattern or image made of small regular or irregular pieces of colored stone, glass or ceramic, held in place by plaster/mortar, and covering a surface. Mosaics are often used as floor and wall decoration, and were particularly pop ...
, and a temple roof. The former canopy was destroyed in 1589; fragments can be seen in the ceiling of the main chapel on the left-hand side.
The 15th-century Cosmatesque pavement in the middle of the nave has an unusual, but very nice, design. It is a very late example of the style. The rectangular windows were installed in the 17th century at the request of the Cardinals Francesco
Francesco, the Italian (and original) version of the personal name " Francis", is the most common given name among males in Italy. Notable persons with that name include:
People with the given name Francesco
* Francesco I (disambiguation), sev ...
and Antonio Barberini
Antonio Barberini (5 August 1607 – 3 August 1671) was an Italian people, Italian Roman Catholic Church, Catholic Cardinal (Catholicism), cardinal, Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Reims, Archbishop of Reims, military leader, patron of the arts an ...
. By the altar of St Agatha is a large statue of the saint.
Ricimer, who was buried in the church, had a mosaic installed. This was unfortunately destroyed in 1589, when the apse collapsed. The Greek humanist John Lascaris (died 1535) is interred in the church and the heart of Daniel O'Connell
Daniel O'Connell (I) ( ga, Dónall Ó Conaill; 6 August 1775 – 15 May 1847), hailed in his time as The Liberator, was the acknowledged political leader of Ireland's Roman Catholic majority in the first half of the 19th century. His mobilizat ...
, the 'Liberator' (died Genoa 1847), is buried here.[ The heart disappeared in vague circumstances during renovation work around 1925.
]
Liturgy
The feast of the Greek martyrs whose relics are preserved here is on 2 December. It is usually celebrated with an evening Mass with the liturgy of the Byzantine Catholic rite.
Other important feasts are that of St Agatha on 5 February and St Gaspar Bertoni
Gaspare Luigi Bertoni (9 October 1777 – 12 June 1853) was an Italian people, Italian Roman Catholic Church, Roman Catholic priest and the founder of the Stigmatines, Congregation of the Sacred Stigmata, also known as the Stigmatines.
Lif ...
, founder of the Stigmatines, on 12 June.
Titulars
''Pro illa vice'', literally "for that turn", indicates a temporary appointment. ''In commendam'' indicates that a cardinal who holds one title is also granted oversight of another vacant title.
References
Sources
Lucinda Byatt
"Sant'Agata dei Goti on the Quirinal: An Early Sixteenth-Century Fulcrum for Politics and Learning under Cardinal Ridolfi," Conference
''Early Modern Rome 1341-1667, University of California Rome, 13-15 May 2010''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Agata dei Goti, Sant'
460s establishments
17th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in Italy
18th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in Italy
Agata
5th-century churches
Ostrogothic art
Churches of Rome (rione Monti)