Church of San Nicola da Tolentino – place, where Augustinians gave out their breads
Church of San Nicola da Tolentino – place, where Augustinians gave out their breads
Church of San Nicola da Tolentino, pendentives and dome
Façade of the Church of San Nicola da Tolentino, design by Giovanni Battista Baratta
Church of San Nicola da Tolentino, main altar
Church of San Nicola da Tolentino, Alessandro Algardi, main altar, sculptures - Ercole Ferrata and Domenico Guidi
Church of San Nicola da Tolentino, top of the main altar - Giovanni Battista Baratta
Interior of the Church of San Nicola da Tolentino
Church of San Nicola da Tolentino, Apotheosis of St. Nicholas of Tolentino, frescoes in the dome, XVII century
Church of San Nicola da Tolentino, Chapel of St. Nicholas of Myra depicting a Miracle of St. Nicholas of Myra, XVIII century (Filippo Laurenzi)
Church of San Nicola da Tolentino, Chapel of St. Gregory the Illuminator, tombstone of Cardinal Gregory Aghajanian
Church of San Nicola da Tolentino, Lante della Rovere Chapel
San Nicola da Tolentino, tombstone of Giuseppe Orega, right transept of the church
San Nicola da Tolentino, tombstone of Cardinal Niccolo Orega, right transept of the church
Church of San Nicola da Tolentino, Chapel of Our Lady of Good Counsel, decoration from the XVIII century
Church of San Nicola da Tolentino, Chapel of Our Lady of Good Counsel
Church of San Nicola da Tolentino, dome of the Chapel of Our Lady of Good Counsel
Church of San Nicola da Tolentino, Gavotti Chapel, main altar Apparition of the Blessed Virgin to the Blessed Antonio Botta, Cosimo Fancelli
Church of San Nicola da Tolentino, dome of the Gavotti Chapel, design – Pietro da Cortona, completed by Ciro Ferri
Church of San Nicola da Tolentino, figure of St. John the Baptist with funerary bust of Carlo Gavotti, Antonio Raggi
Church of San Nicola da Tolentino, Gavotti Chapel, bust of Cardinal Giovanni Battista Gavotti, Cosimo Fancelli
Body of the Church of San Nicola da Tolentino
Façade of the Church of San Nicola da Tolentino, inscription commemorating the foundation of Prince Camillo Pamphilj and family coats of arms
The church is dedicated to a little-known saint – a thirteenth century Augustinian, Nicholas of Tolentino. According to a legend his birth was a result of prayers, but most of all a pilgrimage of his elderly parents to Bari, to the tomb of St. Nicholas of Myra, which was recommended to them by an angel. The boy who was born, was named Nicholas, in honor of the patron of his miraculous birth and was destined to serve God. That is why the teenage Nicholas joined the Order of St. Augustine. He was considered an ascetic who supported the poor and the needy, but also the man behind numerous miracles and cures. Since he often refused meals, giving the bread which he got in the monastery to the poor, this bread, or more appropriately rolls, were known as the bread of St. Nicholas and they became his attribute and an ever-present element of his cult.
The church is dedicated to a little-known saint – a thirteenth century Augustinian, Nicholas of Tolentino. According to a legend his birth was a result of prayers, but most of all a pilgrimage of his elderly parents to Bari, to the tomb of St. Nicholas of Myra, which was recommended to them by an angel. The boy who was born, was named Nicholas, in honor of the patron of his miraculous birth and was destined to serve God. That is why the teenage Nicholas joined the Order of St. Augustine. He was considered an ascetic who supported the poor and the needy, but also the man behind numerous miracles and cures. Since he often refused meals, giving the bread which he got in the monastery to the poor, this bread, or more appropriately rolls, were known as the bread of St. Nicholas and they became his attribute and an ever-present element of his cult.
The building which we see today in a deteriorating state, in the past was a monastic church. Its history dates back to the end of the XVI century, when in the face of numerous scandals a group of Augustinians decided to change the rule of their order and bring aesthetics and an eremitic way of life to the reformed friars. In order to accentuate this new stage the friars renamed themselves as the Discalced Augustinians. Thanks to some donors they began construction of a church and a monastery, however the funds quickly ran out. Works were continued thanks to the generosity of the nephew of Pope Innocent X, Duke Camillo Pamphilj, who not only assigned a rather large sum on behalf of the friars – but as ex voto for the healing of his severely ill wife, sent his trusted sculptor and architect Alessandro Algardi to help their cause. After Algardi’s death the man responsible for the design of the artistically interesting façade, situated on monumental stairs leading to it, was his student Giovanni Battista. He, as well as other valued and well-known sculptors and stucco artists, such as, Domenico Guidi and Ercole Ferrata, decorated the interior.
This church was not the only significant foundation of Camillo Pamphilj – others that should be mentioned are the Church of Sant’Agnese in Agone or Sant’Andrea al Quirinale – both connected with the desire to commemorate the family and its most noteworthy representative – Pope Innocent X. However, this time the duke had a different goal in mind, of course besides the one connected with the healing of his wife. The church was located close to a grand palace arrangements belonging to the hated Barberinis. So it should come as no surprise, that Camillo also wanted to mark his presence here. And soon the church stood tall over the surrounding area, reminding all of the significance of the Pamphilj family, while the inscription on its façade Camullus Princeps Pamphilius commemorated the founder himself. At the base of the niches flanking the enterance there were doves with an olive branch – the heraldic signs of the family. They will be encountered once again at the top of the façade, however today they are completely faded.
Ultimately the church was consecrated in 1685 during the pontificate of Pope Innocent XI. It is an example of late Baroque and is imposing indeed. It has a transept, three naves and an oval dome found at their cross-section. The side naves contain broad chapels – which, as tradition practiced in monastic churches would have it – were rented out to wealthy families, which decorated them with piety for their own greater glory. The altar part is made of a flat apse, in which a beautiful altar was placed and it is here that we can begin our sightseeing tour. It is the work of the aforementioned Alessandro Algardi, one of the major sculptors of the Baroque era, and the principal rival of Gian Lorenzo Bernini. The heraldic emblems of the Pamphilj family are found at the bases of the fluted columns, placed on the sides of the sculpting group depicting the Madonna with Child, who are accompanied by St. Augustine and hidden in the shadows, his mother – St. Monica. They look upon the kneeling monk, Nicholas of Tolentino, whose hand reaches out towards them with four bread rolls. This scene is a reference to a legend describing, how Nicholas weak due to severe fasting, fell ill. When his health deteriorated to the point of hopelessness, he experienced a vision – the Virgin Mary with Child and St. Augustine appeared to him, and they ordered him to consume a small roll every day, marked with the sign of the cross and sprinkled with holy water. It strengthened the future saint and from that moment on it became an element of his mission to cure the ill. It is from this legend that the habit of blessing the faithful by the Discalced Augustinians comes, as well as the tradition of giving out the so-called bread of St. Nicholas, which is said to have miraculous powers, especially those connected with curing severe illnesses.
The sculptures are the work of Algardi’s students. The upper part was the work of Ercole Ferrata, while the figure of St. Augustine was sculpted by Domenico Guidi. Both of them were willingly employed by Camillo Pamphilj. On the other hand the angels on the top of the pediment are again the work of Baratta. They surround the figure of God the Father (work of Ferrata).
Two grated windows and a pair of apse doors may be slightly surprising. First they served the monks, while later the Baptistines ( Sisterhood of St. John the Baptist), who lived in complete solitude and who settled here in the XVIII century. The doors led to a second choir, found behind the altar, destined for the sisters who were separated from the faithful. The sisters lived here until 1883, when the monastery became the residence of an Armenian school. A visible sign of the Armenian Rite is a curtain found in the main altar, drawn during services, which serves the same function as the iconostas in the Orthodox liturgy.
Looking upwards, we will see an imposing dome with a lantern, whose pendentives contain figures of women – allegories of the four principal virtues of the Order of the Discalced Augustinians: Obedience (figure with the crucifix), Poverty (figure with the Keys to the Kingdom of Heaven), Chastity (figure with discipline), and Humility (figure turning her back on earthly honors and wealth). Similarly to the scenes in the dome itself, which depict the Glory of Nicholas of Tolentino kneeling in front of Christ and Virgin Mary, they were created in the middle of the XVII century. A well-visible crack in the dome is a reminder of an earthquake, which Rome experienced at the beginning of the XX century.
Right nave (looking on from the main enterance)
The first chapel is devoted to the namesake of the church patron – Nicholas of Myra, who is renowned for his miracles, shown on the altarpiece from the beginning of the XVIII century.
The second chapel is dedicated to St. Gregory the Illuminator, recognized as the apostle of Armenia. He can be seen in the chapel altar along with Pope Sylvester I with the Colosseum in the background, which is to show unity between the two Churches – Roman and Armenian. Perhaps a few words of explanation are in order: Armenians are recognized as the first Christian nation converted to the teachings of Christ by the aforementioned Gregory the Illuminator, who at the start of the IV century convinced the King of Armenia, Tiridates to establish Christianity as the state religion. However, the two Churches split after the Council of Chalcedon in 451, when the Western Church (Rome) firmly stood behind orthodoxy, while the representatives of the Armenian Church (Apostolic Armenian Church) became fervent supporters of Monophysitism, considered as heresy by the Roman pope. In the XI century, a group of Armenians from the so-called Little Armenia, split off from the Apostolic Armenian Church, looking for contacts and support from the pope. Reconciliation and unity with Rome came about at the end of the XII century. At that time the group moved away from monophysitism and accepted the primacy of the pope. This union, today encompassing about half a million of the faithful around the world continues until the present. A tombstone on the left, which is oriental in its decoration, may be of interest. It was created in 1971 and depicts a cardinal, as well as the Patriarch of the Roman Catholic Church of Armenian Rite Gregory Peter XV Aghajanian (Gregorio Pietro Agagianian). This dignitary is elected and then approved by the pope. The patriarch himself is granted the status of a cardinal bishop of the Roman Catholic Church.
The following chapel (third) built in mid-XVII century and closed off with an iron grate, in the past belonged to the Lante della Rovere family. This is visible by the decorative coat of arms at the base of the arch leading into the chapel, flanked by two allegories. Within, we will notice decorative marbles and a painting devoted to saints who are seldom recalled in Rome – Lucretia and Gertrude. Paintings in the chapel dome are also devoted to their apotheosis. On the left, there is a tombstone of cardinal Federico Marcello Lante della Rovere, buried here.
The fourth chapel, located in the church transept is dedicated to St. John the Baptist. Its principal decoration is a painting of an important Baroque painter – Baciccio, depicting John as a handsome youth in the desert. In the chapel, there are also rather typical for the XVII century tombstone portraits of two representatives of the Oregi family, located on either side of the altar.
In the left nave worth seeing are:
Third chapel, dedicated to Our Lady of Good Counsel, created at the beginning of the XVIII century. The image of the Madonna, which is a copy of an old icon, is in the altar. However, the thing that draws attention is the rich ornamentation done in stucco, stretching from the decorations of the altar, all the way to the dome at the top of the chapel, decorated with frescoes.
The most important from the artistic point of view is the following chapel (second) – Cappella Gavotti, considered to be a masterpiece of Roman Baroque. The design was created in 1668 by a renowned Roman architect and painter Pietro da Cortona and it was his last work prior to his death (1669). It was completed and adorned with frescoes by Ciro Ferri, while the sculptures were completed by students of Algardi and Bernini. On the left we will notice a figure of St. Joseph by Ercole Ferrata, on the left St. John the Baptist – the work of Antonio Raggi. Below these free-standing figures there are busts of the representatives of the family: Giovanni Battista and Carlo Gavotti. On the other hand, the chapel altar is adorned with a sculpting group made in marble, depicting the miraculous apparition of the Madonna to a simple fisherman (the Blessed Anthony Botta). It is the work of another skilled Roman stucco artist and sculptor Cosimo Fancelli. The altar was most likely to remind the cardinal and the initiator of the creation of the chapel – Giovanni Battista Gavotti – of his home. It is a reference to the aforementioned miracle which was witnessed in 1536, when in the area of the town of Savona in Liguria, the Madonna in a gold crown, appeared to this simple fisherman – later, the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Mercy was created in this location and it is this encounter that is the topic of the altar decoration.
The first chapel in the left nave may arise particular interest. This is due to the fact that it is a reconstruction of the Holy Sepulchre. It was first designated for another building found on the shores of the Tiber – the Church of Santa Maria Egiziaca (Mary the Egyptian), the previous national church of the Armenians. It was situated within the pagan Temple of Portunus, however this was not the original church of the Armenian commune in Rome. The faithful of this rite, were moved here in 1571, when their original, medieval residence became part of the Jewish ghetto set out by the pope. In time, a hospice for pilgrims coming from Armenia was created at the Church of Santa Maria Egiziaca, while the church itself was enriched and decorated with great piety. However, more than three centuries later, the Armenians had to once again change the location of their religious cult. This took place in 1924 within the framework of restoring places of antiquity in Rome, during the times of Benito Mussolini. At that time the hospice was torn down, while the church once again became the Roman temple of the god Portunus. It was then, that the Armenians found a new home in the Church of San Nicola da Tolentino. With them, they took this very chapel, created in the XVII century.
Presently it is a Catholic church of the Armenian Rite, open strictly for liturgical purposes. Masses in Armenian are held every Sunday at 11.00.
It can also be accessed from the side, through the Pontifical Armenian College belonging to the church.
Camillo Francesco Maria Pamphilj (1622–1666) – an arthritis-filled expiation of the papal nephew
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