San Martino ai Monti, also known as Santi Silvestro e Martino ai Monti - Titolo Equizio, is a basilica

Basilica

The Latin word basilica , was originally used to describe a Roman public building, usually located in the forum of a Roman town. Public basilicas began to appear in Hellenistic cities in the 2nd century BC.The term was also applied to buildings used for religious purposes...

 church in

Churches of Rome

There are more than 900 churches in Rome. Most, but not all, of these are Roman Catholic, with some notable Roman Catholic Marian churches.The first churches of Rome originated in places where Christians met. They were divided into three categories:...

 Rome

Rome

Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...

, Italy

Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

, in the Rione Monti

Monti (rione of Rome)

Monti is the name of one of the twelve Rioni of Rome, rione I. The name literally means mountains in Italian and comes from the fact that the Esquiline and the Viminal Hills, and parts of the Quirinal and the Caelian Hills belonged to this rione...

 neighbourhood.

History

The basilica was founded by Pope St. Sylvester I over a terrain donated by one Equitius (hence the name of Titulus Equitii) in the 4th century. At the beginning it was an oratory devoted to all the martyrs. It is known that a preparation meeting for the Council of Nicaea

First Council of Nicaea

The First Council of Nicaea was a council of Christian bishops convened in Nicaea in Bithynia by the Roman Emperor Constantine I in AD 325...

 was held here in 324. The current church of San Martino ai Monti dates from the Carolingian era, but a 3rd century pillared hall has been located below and adjacent to the later church. This has caused some scholars to identify it with the Titulus Equitii, but according to Hugo Brandenburg, it is "most unlikely that it could have served as a place of worship for any larger community and its liturgy: The original purpose of this fairly modest hall...was probably to serve as a storage space for commercial purposes."

In 500, the church was rebuilt and dedicated to Saints Martin of Tours

Martin of Tours

Martin of Tours was a Bishop of Tours whose shrine became a famous stopping-point for pilgrims on the road to Santiago de Compostela. Around his name much legendary material accrued, and he has become one of the most familiar and recognizable Christian saints...

 and Pope Sylvester I by Pope Symmachus

Pope Symmachus

Saint Symmachus was pope from 498 to 514. His tenure was marked by a serious schism over who was legitimately elected pope by the citizens of Rome....

. On this occasion, the church was elevated and the first oratory became subterranean.

It was reconstructed by Hadrian I in 772 and by Sergius II

Pope Sergius II

Pope Sergius II was Pope from January 844 – January 24, 847.On the death of Gregory IV the archdeacon John was proclaimed pope by popular acclamation, while the nobility elected Sergius, a Roman of noble birth. The opposition was suppressed, with Sergius intervening to save John's life...

 in 845. The structure of the present basilica follows the ancient church, and many pieces had been re-used.

The church is served by the Order of Carmelites

Carmelites

The Order of the Brothers of Our Lady of Mount Carmel or Carmelites is a Catholic religious order perhaps founded in the 12th century on Mount Carmel, hence its name. However, historical records about its origin remain uncertain...

 (O.Carm. - Ancient Observance). It was granted to them in 1299 by Pope Boniface VIII; their ownership was confirmed in 1559. The church is the resting place of Blessed Angelo Paoli

Angelo Paoli

Blessed Angelo Paoli was an Italian Carmelite, known as "the father of the poor".-Life:He was born at born at Argigliano, Tuscany, the son of Angelo Paoli and Santa Morelli, as a young man he spent the greater part of his leisure time in teaching Catholic doctrine to the poor children of Argigliano...

, O.Carm. (1642–1720) who was revered throughout Rome for his service of the poor; he was beatified on 25 April 2010.

The most recent Cardinal-Priest of the Titulus Ss. Silvestri et Martini in Montibus was Armand Razafindratandra (who died on 9 January 2010). The current Cardinal-Priest of the Titulus Ss. Silvestri et Martini in Montibus is Polish Archbishop of Warsaw

Warsaw

Warsaw is the capital and largest city of Poland. It is located on the Vistula River, roughly from the Baltic Sea and from the Carpathian Mountains. Its population in 2010 was estimated at 1,716,855 residents with a greater metropolitan area of 2,631,902 residents, making Warsaw the 10th most...

 Kazimierz Nycz

Kazimierz Nycz

Kazimierz Nycz is a Polish prelate, a Cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church. He is the current Cardinal Archbishop of Warsaw, having previously served as Bishop of Koszalin-Kołobrzeg from 2004 to 2007. Pope Benedict XVI elevated Archbishop Nycz to the status of Cardinal in the consistory of 20...

. Among the previous titulars were Pope Pius XI

Pope Pius XI

Pope Pius XI , born Ambrogio Damiano Achille Ratti, was Pope from 6 February 1922, and sovereign of Vatican City from its creation as an independent state on 11 February 1929 until his death on 10 February 1939...

, Pope Paul VI

Pope Paul VI

Paul VI , born Giovanni Battista Enrico Antonio Maria Montini , reigned as Pope of the Catholic Church from 21 June 1963 until his death on 6 August 1978. Succeeding Pope John XXIII, who had convened the Second Vatican Council, he decided to continue it...

, and Alfonso de la Cueva, marqués de Bedmar

Alfonso de la Cueva, marqués de Bedmar

Alfonso de la Cueva-Benavides y Mendoza-Carrillo, marqués de Bedmar was a Spanish diplomat, bishop and Roman cardinal. He was born in Bedmar, in what is now the province of Jaén...

.

Interior decoration

Further transformations were executed in the 17th century by Filippo Gagliardi

Filippo Gagliardi

Filippo Gagliardi was an Italian painter of the Baroque period, active mainly in Rome. He collaborated with Filippo Lauri and Andrea Sacchi. He also helped in the renovation of San Martino ai Monti . He contributed illustrated architectural perspectives to Ferrari's Hesperides and became principe...

. In the mid-17th century a series of frescoes, architectural additions, and altarpieces were commissioned including series landscape and architectural frescoes of typically biblical scenes by Gaspar Dughet and Galgliardi. There is a fresco by Jan Miel

Jan Miel

Jan Miel was a Flemish painter, active in Italy, emerging from the circle of genre painters influenced by Pieter van Laer and the so-called Bamboccianti painters. He was born in Beveren-Waas near Antwerp, but had traveled to Rome by 1636. Surprisingly, he briefly collaborating with Andrea Sacchi,...

 of St. Cyril baptizing a sultan. Fabrizio Chiari

Fabrizio Chiari

Fabrizio Chiari, a painter and engraver, was born at Rome, according to Orlandi, in 1621. He painted some frescoes in the palaces at Rome, and died in 1695. We have some etchings by this artist after N. Poussin, executed in a scratchy but masterly style, amongst which are:*Mars and Venus, in a...

 (now overpainted by Antonio Cavallucci

Antonio Cavallucci

Antonio Cavallucci was an Italian painter of the late Baroque.-Biography:Cavallucci was born in Sermoneta in the Lazio. His artistic talents were recognized in an early stage by Francesco Caetani, Duke of Sermoneta in 1738-1810...

) painted a Baptism of Christ. Giovanni Antonio Canini painted an altarpiece of Holy Trinity with Sts. Nicholas and Bartholemew. The mannerist Girolamo Muziano

Girolamo Muziano

Girolamo Muziano , was an Italian painter, active in a late-Renaissance or Mannerism style. He was born in Acquafredda, near Brescia, but active mainly in Rome....

 painted an altarpiece of St. Albert. Galeazzo Leoncino painted a fresco of Pope Silvester holding council of 324 in San Martino. Pietro Testa

Pietro Testa

Pietro Testa was an Italian High Baroque artist, best known, both to his contemporaries and modern appreciation, as a printmaker and draftsman, who was active in Rome.-Biography:...

 painted the Vision of St. Angelo the Carmelite in the Wilderness. Filippo Gherardi

Filippo Gherardi

Filippo Gherardi was an Italian painter of the Baroque period.Born in Lucca, he was mostly active in Venice and Rome, where he became a member of the large studio of Pietro da Cortona, often working closely with Giovanni Coli. With Coli, Gherardi was initially a trainee of Pietro Paolini in Lucca...

 painted an altarpiece of San Carlo Borromeo. Cannini also painted the Martydom of St. Stephen. Chiari also painted St. Martin dividing his cloak with the beggar. Giovanni Battista Creppi painted The vision of St. Teresa. Matteo Piccione painted the altarpiece of Vision of Santa Maria Maddalena de' Pazzi.
Paolo Naldini painted the Saints on the upper register of the nave (counterclockwise starting with first on the nave, to right Ciriaca, Stephen, Fabianus, and Nicander, then left nave Theodore, Martin, Innocent, and Iusta. Daniele Latre painted St. Anthony and John the Baptist on South Wall (counterfacade), while Naldini painted Peter and Paul.

The interior has three naves with ancient columns. A votive lamp, made in silver sheet, is housed in the sacristy; it was believed to be St. Sylvester's tiara

Tiara

A tiara is a form of crown. There are two possible types of crown that this word can refer to.Traditionally, the word "tiara" refers to a high crown, often with the shape of a cylinder narrowed at its top, made of fabric or leather, and richly ornamented. It was used by the kings and emperors of...

. Under the major altar are preserved the relics of Sts Artemius, Paulina and Sisinnius, brought here from the Catacomb of Priscilla

Catacomb of Priscilla

The Catacomb of Priscilla on the Via Salaria in Rome, Italy, is situated in what was a quarry in Roman times. This quarry was used for Christian burials from the late 2nd century through the 4th century. Some of the walls and ceilings display fine decorations illustrating Biblical scenes...

. A mosaic portraying Madonna with St. Sylvester is from the 6th century.