San Sisto Vecchio

Church in Rome, Italy From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Basilica of San Sisto Vecchio (in Via Appia) is a Catholic minor basilica and Dominican conventual church in Rome, Italy. It has been a titular church since 600 AD. Its Cardinal priest is currently Antoine Kambanda.

LocationPiazzale Numa Pompilio 8, Rome
CountryItaly
LanguageItalian
DenominationCatholic
Quick facts Location, Country ...
San Sisto Vecchio
Old Basilica of Saint Sixtus
Basilica di San Sisto Vecchio
Facade
Click on the map for a fullscreen view
41°52′49″N 12°29′46″E
LocationPiazzale Numa Pompilio 8, Rome
CountryItaly
LanguageItalian
DenominationCatholic
TraditionRoman Rite
Dominicans (nuns)
Websitesansistoroma.it
History
Former name
Titulus Crescentianae
StatusMinor basilica, titular church
Founded4th century AD
FounderPope Anastasius I
DedicationPope Sixtus II
Architecture
Architectural type
Romanesque, Baroque
Completed18th century
Administration
DioceseRome
Close
The Maria Advocata, c. 6th century, hung in the basilica from 1221 to 1575

Basilica

The basilica was constructed in the fourth century and is recorded as the Titulus Crescentianae, thus relating the church to a certain Crescentia (possibly a Roman woman who founded the church.) According to tradition, the church was established by Pope Anastasius I (399–401).

The church is dedicated to Pope Sixtus II and houses his relics (transferred there from the Catacomb of Callixtus in the sixth century.)

San Sisto was rebuilt in the early 13th century by Pope Innocent III. The current church is the result of the restorations of Pope Benedict XIII in the 18th century, which left only the bell tower and the apse from the medieval church.

A 13th-century fresco cycle depicting scenes from the New Testament and the Apocrypha has been preserved.

Woodcut of San Sisto Vecchio in the 16th century, from Le cose maravigliose dell'alma città di Roma (Venice: Girolamo Francino, 1588)

Pope Honorius III entrusted the reform of the monastery at San Sisto Vecchio to Dominic in the 1220s, intending it as part of the reformation of women's religious life in Rome. In 1219 Honorius then invited Dominic and his companions to take up permanent residence at the ancient Roman basilica of Santa Sabina, which they did in the early 1220. After that they founded a convent and studium on June 5, 1222, thus forming the original studium of the Dominican Order in Rome, out of which the 16th-century College of Saint Thomas at Santa Maria sopra Minerva and the Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas (Angelicum) would grow.[relevant?][1]

Dominican nuns still occupy the monastery at San Sisto Vecchio.[2]

Cardinal protectors

The following persons are known to have been Cardinal priests of S. Sisto (italics are used to denote special cases):[3][4][5][6]

References

External links

Related Articles

Wikiwand AI