San Crisogono

where: Piazza Sonnino, 44 off the Viale di Trastevere
getting there: bus H from Termini  or Tram 8/stop Sonnino
open: weekdays 7:30-11:30 & 16:00-19:30, Sundays 8:00-13:00 & 16:00-19:30
information: is it advisable not to enter the church to sight-see during mass (mass times are posted in the entry)

San Crisogono is a minor basilica in Trastevere. A church can be first dated on this site to the 5th century (the ruins of this church, discovered in 1907, can be seen from the entrance under the sacristy inside). In the 12th century the church was completely rebuilt with the bell-tower dating from this time.

In the 17th century with funds from Cardinal Scipione Borghese, the church was once again rebuilt and refurbished in the fashionable Baroque style. The Borghese family emblems of the eagle and dragon can be seen above the main doorway on the facade and in the decorations in the mosaic floor inside which dates from this renovation.

In the sanctuary the the Virgin and Child vault ceiling frescoes are by Giuseppe Cesari and in the Poli Chapel are fresco decorations of the Trinity and Angels by Giacinto Gimignani.

Sadly the ceiling that we see today is only a copy as the beautiful nave ceiling, a painting of the Apotheosis of the Saint by Guercino, was stolen by the French in the 19th century.

ceiling