Rome - Table of Contents .............. Architecture Around the World
2002 photos
Basilica of San Clemente (St. Clement)
Via Labicana, Rome, Italy
Basilica di San Clemente - Official Website
Basilica di San Clemente (Basilica of St. Clement) is an early
Christian basilica in Rome dedicated to Pope St. Clement (d. 99 AD). The church has a beautiful interior, but it is especially notable for its three historical layers. The 12th-century basilica is built on top of a well-preserved 4th-century church (with many frescoes), which was built next to a 3rd-century Mithraic Temple. This ancient church was transformed over the centuries from a private home and site of clandestine Christian worship in the first century to a grand public basilica by the 6th century, reflecting the emerging Roman Catholic Church's growing legitimacy and power.\ - Sacred Destinations (1/2011)
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Arcaded entrance Courtyard: Bell tower ...... Pediment ...... Pilasters ...... Scrolled buttresses Entablature ..... Keystone ..... Pilaster Ionic capital with volutes ..... Egg-and-dart molding..... Bead-and-ree moldingl Note the smooth Roman shaft (vs. fluted Greek shafts) Volutes ..... Lotus(?) leaves ..... Fleur-de-lis in center |
The gilded ceiling is from the 18th century Romanesque Ionic arcade
The historical Pope St. Clement, to whom the church is dedicated,
was the third successor of St. Peter in the See of Rome, and the author
of a famous letter to the Corinthians (96 A.D.). Chapel Inlaid marble floor |
See also: San Clemente: A Journey Backwards In Time (Online March 2013)
Photos and their arrangement © 2002 Chuck LaChiusa
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