Santa Cecilia in Trastevere
The church is dedicated to a Roman patrician, wife of San Valeriano, who was tortured and beheaded at the time of Marcus Aurelius.
Built before the 5th century, in the place where the two Saints lived, it has undergone many manipulations and restorations, starting from 817 under Pasquale I; in 1113 the bell tower was added, and in the same period the portico with columns of pink granite and African marble; under the portico Gregorio XIV buried the body of his nephew, Cardinal Paolo Sfondrati.
In 1725 Cardinal Francesco Acquaviva made some restorations and subsequently, in 1823, others were carried out by Cardinal Giacomo Doria Pamphili; further restorations took place in the 19th century and finally in 1955.
For its secluded site, its eighteenth-century grace, the memories of the Saint and the masterpieces that are collected there, the Church deserves to be visited.
The interior is divided into three naves, of which the central is much wider than the others, with the "ciborium" at the bottom supported by 4 black and white marble columns, the work of Arnolfo di Cambio in 1283; the vault is frescoed by Sebastiano Conca with the Apotheosis of Santa Cecilia.
On the right, the "Cappella dei Ponziani", a family to which Santa Francesca Romana belonged, with the vault frescoed by the "Scuola del Pinturicchio" representing God the Father among the Evangelists. At the end of the nave a fresco representing Pasquale II finds the body of Santa Cecilia.
Under the central altar the sepulcher of Santa Cecilia, rich in marble, and with a statue of the Holy work by Stefano Maderno.
Noteworthy is the mosaic of Pasquale I present in the apse, which represents Redeemer with St. Paul, Santa Cecilia and Pasquale I on the right and St. Peter, San Valeriano and Sant'Agata on the left.
Of particular importance is the fresco by Cavallini in the adjoining convent.
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