Church of Sant'Apollinare

Located in the Rione Ponte, between Piazza Navona and Palazzo Altemps, the church was founded in the early Middle Ages, between the 7th and 8th centuries, and is dedicated to the saint who, according to tradition, accompanied St. Peter from Antioch to Rome and who later became the first bishop of Ravenna. Probably, The first church was attached to a monastery of Byzantine-rite monks who had fled from persecution during the reign of the iconoclast emperor Leo the Isaurian at Constantinople. However, between 1742 and 1748, the church was rebuilt from its foundations by Pope Benedict XIV based on a project by Ferdinando Fuga.

The elegant façade on two storeys, marked by pilasters, is a typical example of the transition between Baroque and Neoclassical style. The bright interior, preceded by an elliptical atrium, has a single nave with three chapels on each side and a barrel-vaulted ceiling, embellished with magnificent frescoes with the “Glory of St. Apollinaris” by Stefano Pozzi. Among the many embellishments of the main altar, made by Bernardino Ludovisi in 1746, there are also two candelabra by Luigi Valadier, a famous Roman silversmith, father of the architect Giuseppe. In one of the chapels, a 15th-century icon of Our Lady linked to a particular episode in the history of Rome is venerated: during the passage of the soldiers of French king Charles VIII in 1494, the image was covered with a layer of lime to hide it and preserve it. It was forgotten until 13 February 1647, when it reappeared thanks to an earthquake that detached the plaster.

The church is part of a vast building complex that has hosted numerous Catholic institutions over the centuries including the Germanic Jesuit College, from 1574 to 1773, the Pontifical Roman Seminary, the Pontifical Institute of Sant’Apollinare, and the “Tommaso da Vittoria” academy. It is currently the seat of the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross.