The church stands at the intersection of Borgo Santo Spirito in Rome and via dei Penitenzieri, in the north-western extremity of the Santo Spirito in Saxia archispedale complex.
The façade, built in 1585-1590 and preceded by a large churchyard, is on two levels, with Corinthian order pilasters that divide the lower level into five bays and the upper one into three.
Starting from the eighth century, four scholæ arose near the ancient basilica of St. Peter in the Vatican, settlements characterized by their own internal military and civil organization made up of members of various Nordic populations residing in Rome, aimed at mutual assistance to fellow citizens.
The oldest was that of the Saxons, founded between 726 and 728 by the king of Wessex Ine who, like other British sovereigns, settled permanently near St. Peter's, constituting one of the main, constant sources of income for the basilica.
Inside the Schola Saxonum a church dedicated to the Madonna was built at the behest of Ine and with the consent of Pope Gregory II, where in 794 a xenodochio was founded by the king of Mercia Offa (the first nucleus of the future arch heavily damaged by the fires that broke out in the entire neighborhood in 817 and 852, and devastated during the Saracen raid in 846; after the latter it was rebuilt by Pope Leo IV around 850, with the title of S. Mariæ super schola Saxonum or S. Mariæ quæ vocatur Schola Saxonum; in a letter from Pope Alexander II to William I of England in 1068 the church was mentioned as S. Mariæ quæ vocatur schola Anglorum.
In 854 it passed under the jurisdiction of the male monastery of San Martino al Vaticano.
New restorations were undertaken during the 11th century and on 24 February 1123 he dedicated a side altar dedicated to the Virgin Mary.
In 1198 Pope Innocent III [10] transformed the xenodochio into a hospital and orphanage, and founded the new church of Santa Maria in Saxia, affiliated with the basilica of San Pietro in the Vatican; the project of the entire complex was entrusted to Marchionne Aretino.
It was within it that on 18 October 1369 the Byzantine emperor John V Paleologus abjured the Eastern schism before Pope Urban V, who had returned from Avignon on purpose.
In 1208 Pope Innocent III established that on the Sunday after the octave of the Epiphany a solemn procession would be held to carry the Veil of Veronica from the basilica of San Pietro to the church of Santa Maria in Saxia; this tradition continued in the following centuries and was renewed in 2016.
The church was rebuilt with three naves in 1383 and restored in 1431 after it had been damaged at the beginning of the century by the soldiers of Ladislao I of Naples who had settled there. Struck by a fire that affected the entire complex, in 1471 it was rebuilt at the behest of Pope Sixtus IV based on a design by Baccio Pontelli or an anonymous Florentine architect. It was opened for worship in 1475.
Santo Spirito Church in Sassia
Address: Via dei Penitenzieri, 12, 00193
Phone: +39066879310
Site:
http://www.divinamisericordia.it/Location inserted by
CHO.earth