Santa Croce e San Bonaventura alla Pilotta or Santa Croce e di San Bonaventura dei Lucchesi is a church in Rome, sited on via dei Lucchesi in the

Trevi The area of freedom, security and justice (AFSJ) is a collection of justice as well as migration & home affairs policies designed to ensure security, rights and free movement within the European Union (EU). Fields covered include the harmonisati ...

district, between the

Trevi Fountain The Trevi Fountain ( it, Fontana di Trevi) is an 18th-century fountain in the Trevi district in Rome, Italy, designed by Italian architect Nicola Salvi and completed by Giuseppe Pannini and several others. Standing high and wide, it is the larg ...

and the

Pontificia Università Gregoriana The Pontifical Gregorian University ( it, Pontificia Università Gregoriana; also known as the Gregorian or Gregoriana,) is a higher education ecclesiastical school ( pontifical university) located in Rome, Italy. The Gregorian originated as ...

. It is

Lucca Lucca ( , ) is a city and ''comune'' in Tuscany, Central Italy, on the Serchio River, in a fertile plain near the Ligurian Sea. The city has a population of about 89,000, while its province has a population of 383,957. Lucca is known as one o ...

regional church Charitable institutions attached to churches in Rome were founded right through the medieval period and included hospitals, hostels, and others providing assistance to pilgrims to Rome from a certain "nation", which thus became these nations' na ...

in Rome.

History

The church is on the site of a medieval church San Nicola de Portiis or San Nicola de Trivio, whose remains can be seen in the present church's crypt. That church had been given to the Capuchin fathers in 1575, who had rededicated it to

saint Bonaventure Bonaventure ( ; it, Bonaventura ; la, Bonaventura de Balneoregio; 1221 – 15 July 1274), born Giovanni di Fidanza, was an Italian Catholic Franciscan, bishop, cardinal, scholastic theologian and philosopher. The seventh Minister Ge ...

. They moved to a new monastery on

Piazza Barberini Piazza Barberini is a large piazza in the ''centro storico'' or city center of Rome, Italy and situated on the Quirinal Hill. It was created in the 16th century but many of the surrounding buildings have subsequently been rebuilt. The current ap ...

in 1631 and the church was granted to the Luccans by

pope Urban VIII Pope Urban VIII ( la, Urbanus VIII; it, Urbano VIII; baptised 5 April 1568 – 29 July 1644), born Maffeo Vincenzo Barberini, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 6 August 1623 to his death in July 1644. As po ...

. There was already a small Luccan community in Rome, mainly made up of merchants. They demolished the old church in 1685 and built a new one in 1695 to designs by

Mattia de Rossi Mattia de Rossi (14 January 1637 – 2 August 1695) was an Italian architect of the Baroque period, active mainly in Rome and surrounding towns. Biography Born in Rome to a family of architects and artisans, he rose to prominence under the mentors ...

and dedicated to the Most Holy Cross (Santissima Croce), after the cult of the 'Volto Santo', a piece of the

True Cross The True Cross is the cross upon which Jesus was said to have been crucified, particularly as an object of religious veneration. There are no early accounts that the apostles or early Christians preserved the physical cross themselves, althoug ...

venerated in

Lucca Cathedral Lucca Cathedral ( it, Duomo di Lucca, Cattedrale di San Martino) is a Roman Catholic cathedral dedicated to Saint Martin of Tours in Lucca, Italy. It is the seat of the Archbishop of Lucca. Construction was begun in 1063 by Bishop Anselm (later P ...

. It was restored in the course of the 19th century.

Bibliography

* M. Armellini
''Le chiese di Roma dal secolo IV al XIX'', Roma 1891
p. 261 * C. Hülsen
''Le Chiese di Roma nel Medio Evo'', Firenze 1927
pp. 407–408

pp. 312–313 * C. Rendina, ''Le Chiese di Roma'', Newton & Compton Editori, Milano 2000, p. 82 * L. Pratesi, ''Rione II Trevi'', in AA.VV, ''I rioni di Roma'', Newton & Compton Editori, Milano 2000, Vol. I, pp. 131–201 National churches in Rome Churches of Rome (rione Trevi) {{Italy-RC-church-stub