Santa Caterina da Siena is a church in Rome dedicated to Catherine of Siena. It is sited on via Giulia in the

Regola Regola is the 7th ''rione'' of Rome, Italy, identified by the initials R. VII, and belongs to the Municipio I. The name comes from ''Arenula'' (the name is recognizable in the modern ''Via Arenula''), which was the name of the soft sand (''rena'' ...

district.

History

This church is indissolubly linked to the history of the Archconfraternity of

Siena Siena ( , ; lat, Sena Iulia) is a city in Tuscany, Italy. It is the capital of the province of Siena. The city is historically linked to commercial and banking activities, having been a major banking center until the 13th and 14th centuri ...

in Rome, to which it still belongs. A sizable Sienese community in Rome was established at the end of the 14th century, and first used the church of Santa Maria in Monterone as its home before shifting to Santa Maria sopra Minerva (site of Catherine of Siena's tomb) around the middle of the 15th century. In 1461, the year of Catherine's

canonization Canonization is the declaration of a deceased person as an officially recognized saint, specifically, the official act of a Christian communion declaring a person worthy of public veneration and entering their name in the canon catalogue of ...

, it moved again, this time to San Nicola degli Incoronati on via Giulia - Sienese merchants and bankers had been living on that street since the end of the 15th century. In 1519 the Sienese association was officially recognised as a confraternity by

pope Leo X Pope Leo X ( it, Leone X; born Giovanni di Lorenzo de' Medici, 11 December 14751 December 1521) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 9 March 1513 to his death in December 1521. Born into the prominent political an ...

. It was decided to build a new church, an oratory for the confraternity and a clergy house. Work began in 1526 to designs by Baldassarre Peruzzi and financed by members of the Sienese nobility based in Rome, most notably cardinal

Giovanni Piccolomini Giovanni Piccolomini (1475–1537) was an Italian papal legate and cardinal. He was a nephew of Pope Pius III. He was made Archbishop of Siena in 1503, Bishop of Sitten in 1522, Bishop of Aquila in 1523, Bishop of Albano in 1524, Bishop o ...

and the banker Agostino Chigi. In 1736 the confraternity became an archconfraternity. The church fell into disrepair due to the

Tiber The Tiber ( ; it, Tevere ; la, Tiberis) is the third-longest river in Italy and the longest in Central Italy, rising in the Apennine Mountains in Emilia-Romagna and flowing through Tuscany, Umbria, and Lazio, where it is joined by the Riv ...

flooding and so it was completely rebuilt to designs by

Paolo Posi Paolo Posi (1708 - 1776) was an Italian architect of the late-Baroque period. Among the cities in which he was active were Rome, Narni, and Viterbo. Among the other works, he designed mausoleums for Cardinal Inico Caracciolo in Aversa, Cardinal G ...

between 1766 and 1775, the year in which a new altar was consecrated. The previous church is described in documents in the archconfraternity archives as having three altars, with a

Girolamo Genga Girolamo Genga (c. 1476 – 11 July 1551) was an Italian painter and architect of the late Renaissance, Mannerist style. Life and career Genga was born in a region near Urbino. According mainly to Giorgio Vasari's biography, by age thirtee ...

painting of the ''Resurrection'' on the high altar (now in the archconfraternity's oratory) and frescoes in the side chapels by Timoteo della Vite (a pupil of

Raphael Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino, better known as Raphael (; or ; March 28 or April 6, 1483April 6, 1520), was an Italian painter and architect of the High Renaissance. List of works by Raphael, His work is admired for its clarity of form, ease of ...

) and

Antiveduto Gramatica Antiveduto Grammatica (1571 – April 1626) was a proto-Baroque Italian painter, active near Rome. Grammatica was born in either Siena or Rome. According to Giovanni Baglione the artist was given the name Antiveduto ("foreseen") because his f ...

(who was buried in the church).

External links

Interactive Nolli Map Website

Description

References

Bibliography

* Federica Papi, ''Santa Caterina da Siena'', in ''Roma Sacra. Guida alle chiese della Città eterna, 12º itinerario'', 1995, pp. 8–12 *

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''
Roma 1891, p. 423 * Christian Hülsen
''Le chiese di Roma nel Medio Evo''
Firenze 1927, p. 530 * Antonio Nibby
''Roma nell’anno MDCCCXXXVIII''
Parte prima moderna, Roma 1839, pp. 153–155 * Claudio Rendina, ''Le Chiese di Roma'', Newton & Compton Editori, Milano 2000, p. 60 * Mauro Quercioli, ''Rione VII Regola'', in AA.VV, ''I rioni di Roma'', Newton & Compton Editori, Milano 2000, Vol. II, pp. 457–458 * ''Guida d'Italia. Roma'', Touring Club Italiano, Milano 1992, p. 350 {{DEFAULTSORT:Caterina da Siena Roman Catholic churches in Rome 18th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in Italy Roman Catholic churches completed in 1775 Churches of Rome (rione Regola)