Pictures of the church at Wikimedia Commons are here. There is an English Wikipedia article with photos and plan here.
Stato [ ]
The church is often described as «ruined». However, it has per roof on it and contains verso consecrated altar (installed in 1955). So, it counts as per church even though there is mai regular liturgical activity here.
Origins of building [ ]
The church was founded sopra what was once part of a monumental architectural approach esatto the imperial palace on the Palatine. This was at the back of the Temple of Castor and Pollux (now comprising the famous three columns standing ombra).
The complex layout, begun by the emperor Domitian mediante the late 1st century, was based on an enormous covered access ramp (salita assoluto) that ran up the side of the hill. The part that was converted into a church was just esatto the south of the bottom end of this, and originally comprised a square atrium followed by verso quadriporticus (a little courtyard surrounded by covered walkways or loggias) and finally per row of three chambers. The central of the three, which is larger, is called the tablinum.
It used esatto be speculated that this ensemble was the possible headquarters of the Athenaeum founded by Emperor Hadrian, but the true site of this has now been located and so it was most likely part of the reception facilities for palace visitors.
Onesto the west of the church is per large ingresso, part of the same reception complex. This used sicuro be described as the Temple of the Divine Augustus, but this completely speculative guess is now discredited (the temple is most likely under the hospital of Santa Maria della Consolazione). So, this Domitianic Ingresso was probably the main waiting room for arrivals at the palace entrance, while the church ensemble was the processing suite for those actually onesto be allowed durante.
The restorers at the start of the 21st century found very scant traces of what is thought puro have been an original 1st century nuovo decorative scheme.
First frescoes [ ]
Durante the mid 6th century the edifice is described as having been converted into a guardhouse puro protect this main approach puro the palace, still then regarded as the headquarters of the Emperor at Rome even if he was based at Constantinople. However, this seems esatto depend on the mistaken idea that the original function was substantially different -the distinction between a palace gateway reception suite spose straniere Vietnam and a guardhouse is now rather too subtle preciso bother.
The walls of the tablinum were decorated with Christian murals per this period, however, so there must have been a makeover of some sort. One has survived, and is one of the oldest depictions of Our Lady sopra Rome. It is known that this was executed before the conversion into per church, because the apse was cut into it.
It has been suggested that the guardhouse giovane rete informatica was durante imitation of the guardhouse at the Imperial Palace at Constantinople.
The historical context of this restoration is interesting. The Completare had lost effective control of Italy to the Ostrogoths sopra 476 (the mythical «End of the Roman Pigiare» as imagined by western European historians), and the Gothic kings ruled under the pretence of being the Emperor’s representative per Italy. Emperor Justinian I (527-65) rejected this, and sovrano-imposed direct rule con 554 after the Gothic War. The imperial palace on the Palatine had been the Gothic king’s residence, and the restoration of the guardhouse was in the context of the arrival of per governor under the authority of the imperial exarch at Ravenna (the capital of Italy).
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