It was built in 1785 to a design by Clemente Orlandi, over an earlier church, of uncertain origin, dedicated to the same saint. The Saint Stephen, King of Hungary, depicted in the painting on the first altar on the starboard side is by Cav. Concioli. The statue of St Paul on the high altar was sculpted by Andrea Bergondi and the Guardian Angel on the other altar is by Borgognone. Next to the church was a monastery of hermits of the Rule of St Paul of Hungarian and Polish nationality, who bought this place from the Cistercian monks of St Pudenziana to build the church, which was later given to the Holy Trinity Conservatory by Pope Pius VI.
The façade is concave and has a short convex prothyrum on which stand statues of two lions and a raven, symbols of the saint, which originally supported a palm tree, later replaced by the coat of arms of the Savoys when the church was deconsecrated after 1870.
This is how Nibby describes the interior of the church:
The interior is in the form of a Greek cross, with an ornament of columns and pillars supporting the dome: the vaults are adorned with stuccoes; above the high altar there is a marble statue of St Paul the First Hermit, portrayed as if he were in a cave, which takes light from a window hidden from the eyes of the spectators; this is a work that is noteworthy above all for its invention.
(Nibby, op. cit., p. 576).
Today it is home to the External Relations and Ceremonial Office of the Secretariat of the Department of Public Security of the Ministry of the Interior.
Information
Closed at the public and without religious services
Condividi
Location
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