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You are in: Home » Culture and leisure » Historic places of worship » Catholic Churches » Chiesa San Cesareo de Appia
Typology: Non Parish Church

Address

Address: Via di Porta San Sebastiano, 2
Zone: Quartiere Appio Latino (Roma sud)

Contacts

Opening times

Not open to the public at the moment.

Description

The church of San Cesareo de Appia, commonly and erroneously called San Cesareo in Palatio, is a church in Rome, in the Celio district, near the Porta di San Sebastiano.

This church is of ancient origin: it dates back to the 8th century and was built on the remains of pre-existing Roman structures, which can now be seen in the basement (remains of a mosaic floor with marine scenes from the 2nd century AD). It is also called by medieval sources San Cesareo in Turrim, 'certainly from the proximity of some very high towers, of which the city in the Middle Ages was bristling' (Armellini); with the 16th century the name San Cesareo in Palatio also appears and this created much confusion with the church of the same name in the Campitelli district.

Over the centuries, the church changed hands several times and was renovated several times: in the 14th century it was entrusted to the Crociferi to found a hospital that gave asylum to pilgrims entering through the nearby Porta San Sebastiano; they were succeeded by the Benedictine nuns; in the 15th century it was entrusted to the care of the nearby Church of San Sisto Vecchio and then to the Church of Saints Nereo and Achilleo; it was completely restored in the 16th century by Cavalier d'Arpino, and then entrusted to the Somaschi Fathers. On this occasion, the 13th-century mosaics and other architectural furnishings that were in the transept of the Basilica of San Giovanni in Laterano, which was under renovation at the time, were moved here.

The church has a very sober façade with an entrance door preceded by a porch with granite columns. The interior has a single nave. On the side walls, between the windows, are mosaics by Cavalier d'Arpino, with scenes from the life of St Caesar. In the apse basin is a mosaic depicting God the Father among angels. The altar, the ambo, the cathedra and the transepts of the presbytery are architectural elements that belonged to the Basilica of St. John: they are mostly composed of heterogeneous elements dating back to the 13th century.

The pipe organ in the church of San Cesareo de Appia was built between 1997 and 1999 by Francesco Saverio Colamarino by re-using an electric organ as a console and applying the multiple register system. The instrument has two keyboards of 61 notes each and a pedalboard of 32.

Curated by

Culture and leisure › Cultural heritage › Archaeological heritage
Last checked: 2023-04-06 17:22