San Marco Evangelista Basilica
Basilica di San Marco Evangelista al Campidoglio (Italian)
Façade of the basilica. To the right, Palazzo Venezia, the former embassy of the Republic of Venice, whose protector was St. Mark
Click on the map for a fullscreen view
41°53′44.6″N 12°28′53.2″E / 41.895722°N 12.481444°E / 41.895722; 12.481444
LocationPiazza di S. Marco 48, Rome, Italy
DenominationRoman Catholic
TraditionRoman Rite
Websitewww.sanmarcoevangelista.it
History
StatusMinor basilica
titular church
regional church
DedicationMark the Evangelist
ConsecratedAD 324
Architecture
Architect(s)Leon Battista Alberti (façade)
Architectural typeBasilica
StyleRenaissance, Baroque
Groundbreaking4th century
Completed1470
Clergy
Cardinal protectorAngelo De Donatis

San Marco is a minor basilica in Rome dedicated to Saint Mark the Evangelist located in the small Piazza di San Marco adjoining Piazza Venezia. It was first built in 336 by Pope Mark, whose remains are in an urn located below the main altar. The basilica is the national church of Venice in Rome.

History

In 336, Pope Mark built a church devoted to one of the Evangelists, his patron saint, Mark the Evangelist, in a place called ad Pallacinas. The church is thus recorded as Titulus Marci in the 499 synod of Pope Symmachus. At that time it became one of the stational churches of the city (Monday of the third week in Lent).

After a restoration in 792 by Pope Adrian I, the church was rebuilt by Pope Gregory IV in 833. Besides the addition of a Romanesque bell tower in 1154, the major change in the architecture of the church was ordered by Pope Paul II in 1465–70, when the façade of the church was restyled according to the Renaissance taste with a portico and loggia, using marbles taken from the Colosseum and the Theatre of Marcellus. The façade is attributed to Leon Battista Alberti. Paul II being a Venetian by birth, assigned the church to the Venetian people living in Rome.

Madama Lucrezia is one of the "talking statues" of Rome, and is located next to the basilica entrance. It was once the bust of a statue of the goddess Isis, to whom a temple was dedicated in Rome not far from its current location.

The last major reworking of the basilica was started in 1654-57 and completed by Cardinal Angelo Maria Quirini in 1735–50. With these restorations, the church received its current Baroque decoration.

Interior

The floor of the church is below the ground level of the Renaissance period, and therefore steps lead down to the interior. The church retains its ancient basilica format, with a raised sanctuary. The inside of the church is clearly Baroque. However, the basilica shows noteworthy elements of all her earlier history:

  • the apse mosaics, dating to Pope Gregory IV (827-844), show the Pope, with the squared halo of a living person, offering a model of the church to Christ, in the presence of Mark the Evangelist, Pope Mark and other saints;
  • the wooden ceiling, with the emblem of Pope Paul II (1464-1471), is one of only two original 15th-century wooden ceilings in Rome, together with the one at Santa Maria Maggiore;
  • Cardinal Angelo Maria Querini (cardinal priest of S. Marco 1728–1743) restored the Choir, renewed the pavement of the Chapel of the Sacrament, and rebuilt the high altar.[1]
  • the tomb of Leonardo Pesaro of Venice, aged 16, by Antonio Canova (1796).[2]

In the portico are several early Christian grave stones, as well as the gravestone of Vannozza dei Cattanei, the mistress of Cardinal Rodrigo Borgia.

Cardinal priests

11th-12th centuries

  • Johannes (attested 1059).
  • Atto (attested 1072 - 1084). Excommunicated by Pope Gregory VII as schismatic.
  • Robertus (attested 1086).
  • Romanus (attested 1098 - 1118). Supported the Antipope Clement III (Wido).
  • Bonifatius (1111 - 1130?). Supported the Pope Anacletus II in the schism.
  • Petrus (1130).
  • Guido (1133 - 1143).
  • Gilbertus (1143-1150).
  • Rolandus Bandinelli (1151 - 1159). Elected Pope Alexander III.
  • Johannes (1170 - 1190→).

13th-14th centuries

  • Goffredo da Castiglione (September 1227 - 1239). Promoted Bishop of Sabina.
  • Guillaume de Bray (May 1262 - 29 April 1282).
  • Pietro Peregrosso ( 1289 - 1 August 1295).
  • Bertrand de Déaulx (18 December 1338 - 4 November 1348). Promoted Bishop of Sabina.
  • Franciscus de Aptis (23 December 1356 - 25 August 1361).
  • Jean de Blauzac (Blandiaco) (17 September 1361 - 1372). Promoted Bishop of Sabina.
  • Petrus Amelii (18 December 1379 - 10 August 1389).
  • Giovanni Fieschi (1390 - died before December 1384).
  • Ludovico Donati, O. Min. (21 December 1381 - December 1386).
  • Jean de Blauzac (17 Seotenber 1361 - September 1372). Promoted Bishop of Sabina.

15th century

  • Angelo Correr (Corrario) (12 June 1405 - 30 November 1406). Elected Pope.
  • Antonio Calvi (2 July 1409 - 2 October 1411).
  • Guillaume Fillastre (6 June 1411 - 6 November 1428).
  • Pietro Barbo (16 June 1451 - 30 August 1464). Eected Pope.
  • Marco Barbo (2 October 1467 - 2 March 1491).
  • Lorenzo Cibo de Mari (14 March 1491 - 21 December 1503).

16th century

17th century

18th century

19th century

  • Ludovico Flangini-Giovanelli (2 April 1800 - 24 May 1802) translated to S. Anastasia.
  • Luigi Ercolani (22 July 1816 - 10 December 1825).
  • Karl Kajetan von Gaisruck (Gaysruck) (21 May 1829 - 19 November 1846).
  • Charles Januarius Acton (21 Dec 1846 Appointed - 23 Jun 1847 Died)
  • Giacomo Piccolomini (4 Oct 1847 Appointed - 17 Aug 1861 Died)
  • Pietro de Silvestri (27 Sep 1861 Appointed - 19 Nov 1875 Died)
  • Domenico Bartolini (3 Apr 1876 Appointed - 2 Oct 1887 Died)
  • Michelangelo Celesia, O.S.B. (25 Nov 1887 Appointed - 14 Apr 1904 Died)

20th century

Cardinal protectors

References

  1. Forcella, p. 343.
  2. Forcella, p. 368, no. 877.
  3. He was a cardinal-deacon, and S. Marco was a deaconry pro hac vice.

Bibliography

  • Darko Senekovic, S. Marco, in D. Mondini, C. Jäggi, P. C. Claussen, Die Kirchen der Stadt Rom im Mittelalter 1050–1300, Band 4 (M-O), Stuttgart 2020, pp. 47–68.
  • Roma, collection "L'Italia", Touring Editore, 2004, Milano.
  • Macadam, Alta. Blue Guide Rome. A & C Black, London (1994), ISBN 07136-3939-3
  • Domenico Bartolini, La sotterranea confessione della romana basilica di S. Marco (Roma: Crispino Peccinelli 1844).
  • Vincenzo Forcella, Le inscrizioni delle chiese e d' altri edifice di Roma Volume IV. (Roma: Fratelli Bencini 1874), pp. 341–376.
  • Mariano Armellini, Le chiese di Roma, dalle loro origine sino al secolo XVI (Roma: Editrice Romana 1887), pp. 327–329.
  • Barbara Zenker, Die Mitglieder des Kardinalkollegiums von 1130 bis 1159 (Würzburg 1964), pp. 82–88.
  • Rudolf Hüls, Kardinäle, Klerus und Kirchen Roms, 1049-1130 (Tübingen: Max Niemeyer 1977), pp. 185–187.
  • Werner Malaczek, Papst und Kardinalskolleg von 1191 bis 1216 (Vienna: Österreichische Kulturinstitut im Rom, 1984) [Abhandlungen, 6].

See also

Media related to San Marco (Rome) at Wikimedia Commons

Preceded by
Santa Maria Ausiliatrice, Rome
Landmarks of Rome
San Marco Evangelista al Campidoglio, Rome
Succeeded by
Santa Maria degli Angeli e dei Martiri
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