Chiesa di Sant'Anselmo all'Aventino
Encyclopedia
Knights Hospitaller
The Sovereign Military Hospitaller Order of Saint John of Jerusalem of Rhodes and of Malta , also known as the Sovereign Military Order of Malta , Order of Malta or Knights of Malta, is a Roman Catholic lay religious order, traditionally of military, chivalrous, noble nature. It is the world's...
square, in the rione Ripa
Ripa (rione of Rome)
Ripa is the XII rione of Rome. The logo is a white rudder on a red background, to remind the port of Ripa Grande, placed in Trastevere, but facing the rione.-External links:*...
. The attached abbey is called Badia Primaziale (Primatial Abbey) of the order of Saint Benedict
Order of Saint Benedict
The Order of Saint Benedict is a Roman Catholic religious order of independent monastic communities that observe the Rule of St. Benedict. Within the order, each individual community maintains its own autonomy, while the organization as a whole exists to represent their mutual interests...
since it is the residence of the order's senior abbot, the Abbot Primate.
The church is more modern than it looks: it was built by Francesco Vespignani between 1892 and 1896, on a land given by the Knights of Malta
Knights Hospitaller
The Sovereign Military Hospitaller Order of Saint John of Jerusalem of Rhodes and of Malta , also known as the Sovereign Military Order of Malta , Order of Malta or Knights of Malta, is a Roman Catholic lay religious order, traditionally of military, chivalrous, noble nature. It is the world's...
to the Benedictines, who made it their central church in Rome, together with the monastery and the theological university.
The church shows a neo-romanic style, Vespignani built it according to the project of the Belgium Benedictine abbot Ildebrando of Hemptime. The church is made of three nave
Nave
In Romanesque and Gothic Christian abbey, cathedral basilica and church architecture, the nave is the central approach to the high altar, the main body of the church. "Nave" was probably suggested by the keel shape of its vaulting...
s, divided by granite
Granite
Granite is a common and widely occurring type of intrusive, felsic, igneous rock. Granite usually has a medium- to coarse-grained texture. Occasionally some individual crystals are larger than the groundmass, in which case the texture is known as porphyritic. A granitic rock with a porphyritic...
column
Column
A column or pillar in architecture and structural engineering is a vertical structural element that transmits, through compression, the weight of the structure above to other structural elements below. For the purpose of wind or earthquake engineering, columns may be designed to resist lateral forces...
s. The ceiling is a truss
Truss
In architecture and structural engineering, a truss is a structure comprising one or more triangular units constructed with straight members whose ends are connected at joints referred to as nodes. External forces and reactions to those forces are considered to act only at the nodes and result in...
and the apse
Apse
In architecture, the apse is a semicircular recess covered with a hemispherical vault or semi-dome...
is covered by a mosaic
Mosaic
Mosaic is the art of creating images with an assemblage of small pieces of colored glass, stone, or other materials. It may be a technique of decorative art, an aspect of interior decoration, or of cultural and spiritual significance as in a cathedral...
. The crypt is made of 5 naves. the church is built on the ruins of an ancient Roman domus
Domus
In ancient Rome, the domus was the type of house occupied by the upper classes and some wealthy freedmen during the Republican and Imperial eras. They could be found in almost all the major cities throughout the Roman territories...
of the 2nd-3rd century A.D., still preserved under the church. From this domus comes a mosaic showing the myth of Orpheus
Orpheus
Orpheus was a legendary musician, poet, and prophet in ancient Greek religion and myth. The major stories about him are centered on his ability to charm all living things and even stones with his music; his attempt to retrieve his wife from the underworld; and his death at the hands of those who...
, now in the monastery.
Nowadays the church is mainly known to the local Roman people because of the performance of Gregorian singers during the Sunday mass.
Next to the church there are the Pontificio Ateneo Sant Anselmo
Pontificio Ateneo Sant Anselmo
The Pontificio Ateneo Sant Anselmo is an educational institute of the Roman Catholic Church in Rome...
and the Pontificio Istituto Liturgico.