1.
Rome
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Rome is a special comune and the capital of Italy. Rome also serves as the capital of the Lazio region, with 2,873,598 residents in 1,285 km2, it is also the countrys largest and most populated comune and fourth-most populous city in the European Union by population within city limits. It is the center of the Metropolitan City of Rome, which has a population of 4.3 million residents, the city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, within Lazio, along the shores of the Tiber. Romes history spans more than 2,500 years, while Roman mythology dates the founding of Rome at only around 753 BC, the site has been inhabited for much longer, making it one of the oldest continuously occupied sites in Europe. The citys early population originated from a mix of Latins, Etruscans and it was first called The Eternal City by the Roman poet Tibullus in the 1st century BC, and the expression was also taken up by Ovid, Virgil, and Livy. Rome is also called the Caput Mundi, due to that, Rome became first one of the major centres of the Italian Renaissance, and then the birthplace of both the Baroque style and Neoclassicism. Famous artists, painters, sculptors and architects made Rome the centre of their activity, in 1871 Rome became the capital of the Kingdom of Italy, and in 1946 that of the Italian Republic. Rome has the status of a global city, Rome ranked in 2014 as the 14th-most-visited city in the world, 3rd most visited in the European Union, and the most popular tourist attraction in Italy. Its historic centre is listed by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site, monuments and museums such as the Vatican Museums and the Colosseum are among the worlds most visited tourist destinations with both locations receiving millions of tourists a year. Rome hosted the 1960 Summer Olympics and is the seat of United Nations Food, however, it is a possibility that the name Romulus was actually derived from Rome itself. As early as the 4th century, there have been alternate theories proposed on the origin of the name Roma. There is archaeological evidence of occupation of the Rome area from approximately 14,000 years ago. Evidence of stone tools, pottery and stone weapons attest to about 10,000 years of human presence, several excavations support the view that Rome grew from pastoral settlements on the Palatine Hill built above the area of the future Roman Forum. Between the end of the age and the beginning of the Iron age. However, none of them had yet an urban quality, nowadays, there is a wide consensus that the city was gradually born through the aggregation of several villages around the largest one, placed above the Palatine. All these happenings, which according to the excavations took place more or less around the mid of the 8th century BC. Despite recent excavations at the Palatine hill, the view that Rome has been indeed founded with an act of will as the legend suggests in the middle of the 8th century BC remains a fringe hypothesis. Traditional stories handed down by the ancient Romans themselves explain the earliest history of their city in terms of legend and myth
2.
Italy
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Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a unitary parliamentary republic in Europe. Located in the heart of the Mediterranean Sea, Italy shares open land borders with France, Switzerland, Austria, Slovenia, San Marino, Italy covers an area of 301,338 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate and Mediterranean climate. Due to its shape, it is referred to in Italy as lo Stivale. With 61 million inhabitants, it is the fourth most populous EU member state, the Italic tribe known as the Latins formed the Roman Kingdom, which eventually became a republic that conquered and assimilated other nearby civilisations. The legacy of the Roman Empire is widespread and can be observed in the distribution of civilian law, republican governments, Christianity. The Renaissance began in Italy and spread to the rest of Europe, bringing a renewed interest in humanism, science, exploration, Italian culture flourished at this time, producing famous scholars, artists and polymaths such as Leonardo da Vinci, Galileo, Michelangelo and Machiavelli. The weakened sovereigns soon fell victim to conquest by European powers such as France, Spain and Austria. Despite being one of the victors in World War I, Italy entered a period of economic crisis and social turmoil. The subsequent participation in World War II on the Axis side ended in defeat, economic destruction. Today, Italy has the third largest economy in the Eurozone and it has a very high level of human development and is ranked sixth in the world for life expectancy. The country plays a prominent role in regional and global economic, military, cultural and diplomatic affairs, as a reflection of its cultural wealth, Italy is home to 51 World Heritage Sites, the most in the world, and is the fifth most visited country. The assumptions on the etymology of the name Italia are very numerous, according to one of the more common explanations, the term Italia, from Latin, Italia, was borrowed through Greek from the Oscan Víteliú, meaning land of young cattle. The bull was a symbol of the southern Italic tribes and was often depicted goring the Roman wolf as a defiant symbol of free Italy during the Social War. Greek historian Dionysius of Halicarnassus states this account together with the legend that Italy was named after Italus, mentioned also by Aristotle and Thucydides. The name Italia originally applied only to a part of what is now Southern Italy – according to Antiochus of Syracuse, but by his time Oenotria and Italy had become synonymous, and the name also applied to most of Lucania as well. The Greeks gradually came to apply the name Italia to a larger region, excavations throughout Italy revealed a Neanderthal presence dating back to the Palaeolithic period, some 200,000 years ago, modern Humans arrived about 40,000 years ago. Other ancient Italian peoples of undetermined language families but of possible origins include the Rhaetian people and Cammuni. Also the Phoenicians established colonies on the coasts of Sardinia and Sicily, the Roman legacy has deeply influenced the Western civilisation, shaping most of the modern world
3.
Geographic coordinate system
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A geographic coordinate system is a coordinate system used in geography that enables every location on Earth to be specified by a set of numbers, letters or symbols. The coordinates are chosen such that one of the numbers represents a vertical position. A common choice of coordinates is latitude, longitude and elevation, to specify a location on a two-dimensional map requires a map projection. The invention of a coordinate system is generally credited to Eratosthenes of Cyrene. Ptolemy credited him with the adoption of longitude and latitude. Ptolemys 2nd-century Geography used the prime meridian but measured latitude from the equator instead. Mathematical cartography resumed in Europe following Maximus Planudes recovery of Ptolemys text a little before 1300, in 1884, the United States hosted the International Meridian Conference, attended by representatives from twenty-five nations. Twenty-two of them agreed to adopt the longitude of the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, the Dominican Republic voted against the motion, while France and Brazil abstained. France adopted Greenwich Mean Time in place of local determinations by the Paris Observatory in 1911, the latitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle between the equatorial plane and the straight line that passes through that point and through the center of the Earth. Lines joining points of the same latitude trace circles on the surface of Earth called parallels, as they are parallel to the equator, the north pole is 90° N, the south pole is 90° S. The 0° parallel of latitude is designated the equator, the plane of all geographic coordinate systems. The equator divides the globe into Northern and Southern Hemispheres, the longitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle east or west of a reference meridian to another meridian that passes through that point. All meridians are halves of great ellipses, which converge at the north and south poles, the prime meridian determines the proper Eastern and Western Hemispheres, although maps often divide these hemispheres further west in order to keep the Old World on a single side. The antipodal meridian of Greenwich is both 180°W and 180°E, the combination of these two components specifies the position of any location on the surface of Earth, without consideration of altitude or depth. The grid formed by lines of latitude and longitude is known as a graticule, the origin/zero point of this system is located in the Gulf of Guinea about 625 km south of Tema, Ghana. To completely specify a location of a feature on, in, or above Earth. Earth is not a sphere, but a shape approximating a biaxial ellipsoid. It is nearly spherical, but has an equatorial bulge making the radius at the equator about 0. 3% larger than the radius measured through the poles, the shorter axis approximately coincides with the axis of rotation
4.
Roman Catholic
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The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church or the Universal Church, is the largest Christian church, with more than 1.28 billion members worldwide. As one of the oldest religious institutions in the world, it has played a prominent role in the history, headed by the Bishop of Rome, known as the Pope, the churchs doctrines are summarised in the Nicene Creed and the Apostles Creed. Its central administration is located in Vatican City, enclaved within Rome, the Catholic Church is notable within Western Christianity for its sacred tradition and seven sacraments. It teaches that it is the one church founded by Jesus Christ, that its bishops are the successors of Christs apostles. The Catholic Church maintains that the doctrine on faith and morals that it declares as definitive is infallible. The Latin Church, the Eastern Catholic Churches, as well as such as mendicant orders and enclosed monastic orders. Among the sacraments, the one is the Eucharist, celebrated liturgically in the Mass. The church teaches that through consecration by a priest the sacrificial bread and wine become the body, the Catholic Church practises closed communion, with only baptised members in a state of grace ordinarily permitted to receive the Eucharist. The Virgin Mary is venerated in the Catholic Church as Queen of Heaven and is honoured in numerous Marian devotions. The Catholic Church has influenced Western philosophy, science, art and culture, Catholic spiritual teaching includes spreading the Gospel while Catholic social teaching emphasises support for the sick, the poor and the afflicted through the corporal and spiritual works of mercy. The Catholic Church is the largest non-government provider of education and medical services in the world, from the late 20th century, the Catholic Church has been criticised for its doctrines on sexuality, its refusal to ordain women and its handling of sexual abuse cases. Catholic was first used to describe the church in the early 2nd century, the first known use of the phrase the catholic church occurred in the letter from Saint Ignatius of Antioch to the Smyrnaeans, written about 110 AD. In the Catechetical Discourses of Saint Cyril of Jerusalem, the name Catholic Church was used to distinguish it from other groups that call themselves the church. The use of the adjective Roman to describe the Church as governed especially by the Bishop of Rome became more widespread after the Fall of the Western Roman Empire and into the Early Middle Ages. Catholic Church is the name used in the Catechism of the Catholic Church. The Catholic Church follows an episcopal polity, led by bishops who have received the sacrament of Holy Orders who are given formal jurisdictions of governance within the church. Ultimately leading the entire Catholic Church is the Bishop of Rome, commonly called the pope, in parallel to the diocesan structure are a variety of religious institutes that function autonomously, often subject only to the authority of the pope, though sometimes subject to the local bishop. Most religious institutes only have male or female members but some have both, additionally, lay members aid many liturgical functions during worship services
5.
Church (building)
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A church building, often simply called a church, is a building used for Christian religious activities, particularly worship services. The term in its sense is most often used by Christians to refer to their religious buildings. In traditional Christian architecture, the church is arranged in the shape of a Christian cross. When viewed from plan view the longest part of a cross is represented by the aisle, towers or domes are often added with the intention of directing the eye of the viewer towards the heavens and inspiring church visitors. The earliest identified Christian church was a church founded between 233 and 256. During the 11th through 14th centuries, a wave of building of cathedrals, a cathedral is a church, usually Roman Catholic, Anglican, Oriental Orthodox or Eastern Orthodox, housing the seat of a bishop. In standard Greek usage, the word ecclesia was retained to signify both a specific edifice of Christian worship, and the overall community of the faithful. This usage was retained in Latin and the languages derived from Latin, as well as in the Celtic languages. In the Germanic and some Slavic languages, the word kyriak-ós/-ē/-ón was adopted instead, in Old English the sequence of derivation started as cirice, then churche, and eventually church in its current pronunciation. German Kirche, Scottish kirk, Russian церковь, etc. are all similarly derived, according to the New Testament, the earliest Christians did not build church buildings. Instead, they gathered in homes or in Jewish worship places like the Second Temple or synagogues, the earliest archeologically identified Christian church is a house church, the Dura-Europos church, founded between 233 and 256. During the 11th through 14th centuries, a wave of building of cathedrals, in addition to being a place of worship, the cathedral or parish church was used by the community in other ways. It could serve as a place for guilds or a hall for banquets. Mystery plays were performed in cathedrals, and cathedrals might also be used for fairs. The church could be used as a place to thresh and store grain, a common architecture for churches is the shape of a cross. These churches also often have a dome or other large vaulted space in the interior to represent or draw attention to the heavens. Other common shapes for churches include a circle, to represent eternity, or an octagon or similar star shape, another common feature is the spire, a tall tower on the west end of the church or over the crossing. The Latin word basilica was used to describe a Roman public building
6.
Monsignor
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Monsignor is an honorific form of address for those members of the clergy of the Catholic Church including bishops, honorary prelates and canons. In some cases, these ecclesiastical honorific titles derive from the pope and these are granted to individuals who have rendered valuable service to the Church, or who provide some special function in Church governance, or who are members of bodies such as certain chapters. The title is never bestowed on those classified as religious in Catholicism, although in some languages the word is used as a form of address for bishops, which is indeed its primary use in those languages, this is not customary in English. Monsignor is the form of the Italian monsignore, from the French mon seigneur. It is abbreviated Mgr, Msgr, or Mons, Monsignor is a form of address, not an appointment, properly speaking, one cannot be made a monsignor or be the monsignor of a parish. The title or form of address is associated with certain papal awards, apart from those working in the Roman Curia and the diplomatic service of the Holy See, it is usually on the proposal of the local bishop that the Pope grants this title to Catholic diocesan clergy. The grant is subject to criteria of the Holy See that include a minimum age, soon after his election in March 2013, Pope Francis suspended the granting of the honorific title of Monsignor except to members of the Holy Sees diplomatic service. He himself, during his 15 years as archbishop of Buenos Aires, never asked any of his priests receive the title. Grants already made were not revoked, also unaffected is the association of the style with the office of vicar general, an appointment made by the bishop of the diocese, not by the Pope. Without necessarily being a protonotary apostolic, a diocesan priest has that titular rank as long as he remains in office, the written form of address for such a priest is Monsignor or The Reverend Monsignor. The spoken form of address is Monsignor, the 1969 Instruction of the Secretariat of State indicated that the title of Monsignor may be used for bishops. This is normal practice in Italian, French, Catalan, and Spanish, the predicate His Lordship or Your Lordship is, in English, used as a clerical title only for bishops. Until 1968 there were at least 14 different grades, including domestic prelates, four kinds of protonotaries apostolic, four kinds of papal chamberlains, Pope Paul VI in his motu proprio Pontificalis Domus of 28 March 1968 reduced the grades to three. Since then, apostolic protonotaries have been classified either de numero or supernumerary, most of the former classes of chamberlains and chaplains were abolished, leaving only a single class of Chaplains of His Holiness, a specifically priestly-sounding category. In 2014, Pope Francis abolished the practice of granting priests the title of monsignor, however, existing members of all three ranks established by Pope Paul VI retain their membership. The 1969 Instruction of the Secretariat of State also simplified the dress of monsignori, Chaplains of His Holiness use a purple-trimmed black cassock with purple sash for all occasions. Honorary Prelates use a black cassock with purple sash for all occasions. The red is the shade as that used by bishops
7.
Architect
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An architect is someone who plans, designs, and reviews the construction of buildings. Etymologically, architect derives from the Latin architectus, which derives from the Greek, practical, technical, and academic requirements for becoming an architect vary by jurisdiction. The terms architect and architecture are used in the disciplines of landscape architecture, naval architecture. In most jurisdictions, the professional and commercial uses of the terms architect, throughout ancient and medieval history, most architectural design and construction was carried out by artisans—such as stone masons and carpenters, rising to the role of master builder. Until modern times, there was no distinction between architect and engineer. In Europe, the architect and engineer were primarily geographical variations that referred to the same person. It is suggested that various developments in technology and mathematics allowed the development of the gentleman architect. Paper was not used in Europe for drawing until the 15th century, pencils were used more often for drawing by 1600. The availability of both allowed pre-construction drawings to be made by professionals, until the 18th-century, buildings continued to be designed and set out by craftsmen with the exception of high-status projects. In most developed countries, only qualified people with appropriate license, certification, or registration with a relevant body, such licensure usually requires an accredited university degree, successful completion of exams, and a training period. To practice architecture implies the ability to independently of supervision. In many places, independent, non-licensed individuals may perform design services outside the professional restrictions, such design houses, in the architectural profession, technical and environmental knowledge, design and construction management, and an understanding of business are as important as design. However, design is the force throughout the project and beyond. An architect accepts a commission from a client, the commission might involve preparing feasibility reports, building audits, the design of a building or of several buildings, structures, and the spaces among them. The architect participates in developing the requirements the client wants in the building, throughout the project, the architect co-ordinates a design team. Structural, mechanical, and electrical engineers and other specialists, are hired by the client or the architect, the architect hired by a client is responsible for creating a design concept that meets the requirements of that client and provides a facility suitable to the required use. In that, the architect must meet with and question the client to ascertain all the requirements, often the full brief is not entirely clear at the beginning, entailing a degree of risk in the design undertaking. The architect may make proposals to the client which may rework the terms of the brief
8.
Francesco Borromini
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He seems to have had a sound understanding of structures, which perhaps Bernini and Cortona, who were principally trained in other areas of the visual arts, lacked. His soft lead drawings are particularly distinctive and he appears to have been a self-taught scholar, amassing a large library by the end of his life. His career was constrained by his personality, later critics of the Baroque, such as Francesco Milizia and the English architect Sir John Soane, were particularly critical of Borromini’s work. From the late nineteenth century onwards, interest has revived in the works of Borromini, Borromini was born at Bissone, near Lugano in the Ticino, which was at the time a bailiwick of the Swiss Confederacy. He was the son of a stonemason and began his career as a stonemason himself and he soon went to Milan to study and practice his craft. He moved to Rome in 1619 and started working for Carlo Maderno, his distant relative, at St. Peters, when Maderno died in 1629, he and Pietro da Cortona continued to work on the palace under the direction of Bernini. Once he had established in Rome, he changed his name from Castelli to Borromini. In 1634, Borromini received his first major independent commission to design the church, cloister, situated on the Quirinal Hill in Rome, the complex was designed for the Spanish Trinitarians, a religious order. The monastic buildings and the cloister were completed first after which construction of the church took place during the period 1638-1641, the church is considered by many to be an exemplary masterpiece of Roman Baroque architecture. San Carlino is remarkably small given its significance to Baroque architecture, the site was not an easy one, it was a corner site and the space was limited. Borromini positioned the church on the corner of two intersecting roads, Borromini devised the complex ground plan of the church from interlocking geometrical configurations, a typical Borromini device for constructing plans. The area of the marks the transition from the lower wall order to the oval opening of the dome. Illuminated by windows hidden from a viewer below, interlocking octagons, crosses, in the late sixteenth century, the Congregation of the Filippini rebuilt the church of Santa Maria in Vallicella in central Rome. In the 1620s, on an adjacent to the church. These exercises combined preaching and music in a form which became immensely popular, the architect Paolo Maruscelli drew up plans for the site and the sacristy was begun in 1629 and was in use by 1635. After a substantial benefaction in January 1637, however, Borromini was appointed as architect, by 1640, the oratory was in use, a taller and richer clock tower was accepted, and by 1643, the relocated library was complete. The striking brick curved facade adjacent to the entrance has an unusual pediment. The white oratory interior has a vault and a complex wall arrangement of engaged pilasters along with freestanding columns supporting first level balconies
9.
Architectural style
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An architectural style is characterized by the features that make a building or other structure notable or historically identifiable. A style may include such elements as form, method of construction, building materials, styles therefore emerge from the history of a society. They are documented in the subject of architectural history, at any time several styles may be fashionable, and when a style changes it usually does so gradually, as architects learn and adapt to new ideas. Styles often spread to places, so that the style at its source continues to develop in new ways while other countries follow with their own twist. A style may also spread through colonialism, either by foreign colonies learning from their home country, one example is the Spanish missions in California, brought by Spanish priests in the late 18th century and built in a unique style. After a style has gone out of fashion, revivals and re-interpretations may occur, for instance, classicism has been revived many times and found new life as neoclassicism. Each time it is revived, it is different, the Spanish mission style was revived 100 years later as the Mission Revival, and that soon evolved into the Spanish Colonial Revival. Vernacular architecture works slightly differently and is listed separately and it is the native method of construction used by local people, usually using labour-intensive methods and local materials, and usually for small structures such as rural cottages. It varies from region to region even within a country, as western society has developed, vernacular styles have mostly become outmoded due to new technology and to national building standards. Paul Jacobsthal and Josef Strzygowski are among the art historians who followed Riegl in proposing grand schemes tracing the transmission of elements of styles across great ranges in time and this type of art history is also known as formalism, or the study of forms or shapes in art. Terms originated to describe architectural periods were often applied to other areas of the visual arts, and then more widely still to music, literature. In architecture stylistic change often follows, and is possible by. While many architectural styles explore harmonious ideals, Mannerism wants to take style a step further and explores the aesthetics of hyperbole, Mannerism is notable for its intellectual sophistication as well as its artificial qualities. Mannerism favours compositional tension and instability rather than balance and clarity, the definition of Mannerism, and the phases within it, continues to be the subject of debate among art historians. An example of mannerist architecture is the Villa Farnese at Caprarola. in the country side outside of Rome. The proliferation of engravers during the 16th century spread Mannerist styles more quickly than any previous styles, a center of Mannerist design was Antwerp during its 16th-century boom. Through Antwerp, Renaissance and Mannerist styles were introduced in England, Germany. During the Mannerist Renaissance period, architects experimented with using architectural forms to emphasize solid, the Renaissance ideal of harmony gave way to freer and more imaginative rhythms
10.
Baroque
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The style began around 1600 in Rome and Italy, and spread to most of Europe. The aristocracy viewed the dramatic style of Baroque art and architecture as a means of impressing visitors by projecting triumph, power, Baroque palaces are built around an entrance of courts, grand staircases, and reception rooms of sequentially increasing opulence. However, baroque has a resonance and application that extend beyond a reduction to either a style or period. It is also yields the Italian barocco and modern Spanish barroco, German Barock, Dutch Barok, others derive it from the mnemonic term Baroco, a supposedly laboured form of syllogism in logical Scholastica. The Latin root can be found in bis-roca, in informal usage, the word baroque can simply mean that something is elaborate, with many details, without reference to the Baroque styles of the 17th and 18th centuries. The word Baroque, like most periodic or stylistic designations, was invented by later critics rather than practitioners of the arts in the 17th, the term Baroque was initially used in a derogatory sense, to underline the excesses of its emphasis. In particular, the term was used to describe its eccentric redundancy and noisy abundance of details, although it was long thought that the word as a critical term was first applied to architecture, in fact it appears earlier in reference to music. Another hypothesis says that the word comes from precursors of the style, Giacomo Barozzi da Vignola and he did not make the distinctions between Mannerism and Baroque that modern writers do, and he ignored the later phase, the academic Baroque that lasted into the 18th century. Long despised, Baroque art and architecture became fashionable between the two World Wars, and has remained in critical favour. In painting the gradual rise in popular esteem of Caravaggio has been the best barometer of modern taste, William Watson describes a late phase of Shang-dynasty Chinese ritual bronzes of the 11th century BC as baroque. The term Baroque may still be used, usually pejoratively, describing works of art, craft, the appeal of Baroque style turned consciously from the witty, intellectual qualities of 16th-century Mannerist art to a visceral appeal aimed at the senses. It employed an iconography that was direct, simple, obvious, germinal ideas of the Baroque can also be found in the work of Michelangelo. Even more generalised parallels perceived by some experts in philosophy, prose style, see the Neapolitan palace of Caserta, a Baroque palace whose construction began in 1752. In paintings Baroque gestures are broader than Mannerist gestures, less ambiguous, less arcane and mysterious, more like the stage gestures of opera, Baroque poses depend on contrapposto, the tension within the figures that move the planes of shoulders and hips in counterdirections. Baroque is a style of unity imposed upon rich, heavy detail, Baroque style featured exaggerated lighting, intense emotions, release from restraint, and even a kind of artistic sensationalism. There were highly diverse strands of Italian baroque painting, from Caravaggio to Cortona, the most prominent Spanish painter of the Baroque was Diego Velázquez. The later Baroque style gradually gave way to a more decorative Rococo, while the Baroque nature of Rembrandts art is clear, the label is less often used for Vermeer and many other Dutch artists. Flemish Baroque painting shared a part in this trend, while continuing to produce the traditional categories
11.
Points of the compass
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The points of the compass, specifically on the compass rose, mark divisions of a compass, such divisions may be referred to as winds or directions. A compass point allows reference to a heading in a general or colloquial fashion. A compass is primarily divided into the four cardinal points—north, south, east and these are often further subdivided by the addition of the four intercardinal directions—northeast between north and east, southeast, southwest, and northwest —to indicate the eight principal winds. In meteorological usage, further intermediate points between cardinal and ordinal points, such as north-northeast between north and northeast, are added to give the sixteen points of a wind compass, for most applications, the fractional points have been superseded by degrees measured clockwise from North. In ancient China 24 points of the compass were used, measuring fifteen degrees between points. The names of the compass directions follow the 32-point wind compass rose follow these rules, The cardinal directions are north, east, south, west, the ordinal directions are northeast, southeast, southwest and northwest, formed by bisecting the angle of the cardinal winds. The name is merely a combination of the cardinals it bisects, the eight principal winds are the cardinals and ordinals considered together, that is N, NE, E, SE, S, SW, W, NW. Each principal wind is 45° from its neighbour, the principal winds form the basic eight-wind compass rose. The eight half-winds are the points obtained by bisecting the angles between the principal winds, the half-winds are north-northeast, east-northeast, east-southeast, south-southeast, south-southwest, west-southwest, west-northwest and north-northwest. Notice that the name is constructed simply by combining the names of the winds to either side, with the cardinal wind coming first. The eight principal winds and the eight half-winds together yield a 16-wind compass rose, all of the above named points plus the sixteen quarter winds listed in the next paragraph define the 32 points of the wind compass rose. The sixteen quarter winds are the points obtained by bisecting the angles between the points on a 16-wind compass rose. The name of a quarter-wind is X by Y, where X is a principal wind, so northeast by east means one quarter from NE towards E, southwest by south means one quarter from SW towards S. The eight principal winds, eight half-winds and sixteen quarter winds together yield a 32-wind compass rose, in the mariners exercise of boxing the compass, all thirty-two points of the compass are named in clockwise order. The title of the Alfred Hitchcock 1959 movie, North by Northwest, is not a direction point on the 32-wind compass. The traditional compass rose of eight winds was invented by seafarers in the Mediterranean Sea during the Middle Ages. This Italianate patois was used to designate the names of the winds on the compass rose found in mariner compasses. Tramutana, Gregale, Grecho, Sirocco, Xaloc, Lebeg, Libezo, Leveche, Mezzodi, Migjorn, Magistro, Mestre, etc
12.
Sapienza University of Rome
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The Sapienza University of Rome, also called simply Sapienza or the University of Rome, is a collegiate research university located in Rome, Italy. Formally known as Università degli Studi di Roma La Sapienza, it is the largest European university by enrollments and one of the oldest in history, the University is also the most prestigious Italian university and also the best ranked in Southern Europe. The biggest part of the Italian ruling class studied at this University and he introduced a new tax on wine in order to raise funds for the university, the money was used to buy a palace which later housed the SantIvo alla Sapienza church. However, the Universitys days of splendour came to an end during the sack of Rome in 1527, when the studium was closed and the professors dispersed, Pope Paul III restored the university shortly after his ascension to the pontificate in 1534. In the 1650s the university known as Sapienza, meaning wisdom. University students were newly animated during the 19th-century Italian revival, in 1870, La Sapienza stopped being the papal university and became the university of the capital of Italy. In 1935 the new university campus, planned by Marcello Piacentini, was completed, Sapienza University has many campuses in Rome but its main campus is the Città Universitaria, which covers 439,000 m2 near the Roma Tiburtina Station. The university has satellite campuses outside Rome, the main of which is in Latina. In 2011 a project was launched to build a campus residence halls near Pietralata station. The Department of Philosophy is located in this building, since the 2011 reform, Sapienza University of Rome has eleven faculties and 65 departments. Today Sapienza, with 140,000 students and 8,000 among academic and technical, the university has significant research programmes in the fields of engineering, natural sciences, biomedical sciences and humanities. It offers 10 Masters Programmes taught entirely in English, as of the 2016 Academic Ranking of World Universities, Sapienza is positioned within the 151-200 group of universities and among the top 3% of universities in the world. In 2015, the Center for World University Rankings ranked the Sapienza University of Rome as the 112th in the world, in order to cope with the large demand for admission to the university courses, some faculties hold a series of entrance examinations. The entrance test often decides which candidates will have access to the undergraduate course, for some faculties, the entrance test is only a means through which the administration acknowledges the students level of preparation. Students that do not pass the test can still enroll in their chosen degree courses but have to pass an additional exam during their first year, the title of the speech would have been The Truth Makes Us Good and Goodness is Truth. Some students and professors protested in reaction to a 1990 speech that Pope Benedict XVI gave in which he, in their opinion, endorsed the actions of the church against Galileo in 1633
13.
Ivo of Kermartin
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Also known Yvo or Ives, was a parish priest among the poor of Louannec, the only one of his station to be canonized in the Middle Ages. He is the patron of Brittany, lawyers and abandoned children, poetically, he is referred to as Advocate of the Poor. Born at Kermartin, a manor near Tréguier in Brittany, on 17 October 1253, Ivo was the son of Helori, lord of Kermartin, in 1267 Ivo was sent to the University of Paris, where he graduated in civil law. While other students partied, Ivo studied, prayed and visited the sick and he also refused to eat meat or drink wine. Among his fellow-students were the scholars Duns Scotus and Roger Bacon and he went to Orléans in 1277 to study canon law under Peter de la Chapelle, a famous jurist who later became bishop of Toulouse and a cardinal. On his return to Brittany, having received minor orders he was appointed an official and he protected orphans and widows, defended the poor, and rendered fair and impartial verdicts. It’s said that even those on the losing side respected his decisions, Ivo also represented the helpless in other courts, paid their expenses and visited them in prison. He earned the title “Advocate of the Poor. ”Although it was common to give judges “gifts and he often helped disputing parties settle out of court so they could save money. Meanwhile, he studied Scripture, and there are reasons for believing the tradition held among Franciscans that he joined the Third Order of St. Francis sometime later at Guingamp. Ivo was ordained to the priesthood in 1284 and he continued to practice law and once, when a mother and son couldn’t resolve their differences, he offered a Mass for them. Ivo was soon invited by the Bishop of Tréguier to become his official and he displayed great zeal and rectitude in the discharge of his duty and did not hesitate to resist taxation by the king, which he considered an encroachment on the rights of the Church. Due to his charity he gained the title of advocate and patron of the poor, having been ordained he was appointed to the parish of Tredrez in 1285 and eight years later to Louannec, where he died of natural causes after a life of hard work and repeated fasting. Tours was near Orleans, the bishop held his court there, one day he found his widow-landlady in tears. Her tale was that day she must go to court to answer to the suit of a traveling merchant who had tricked her. That day, Doe had come back, and called for the casket, saying that his partner Roe was detained elsewhere, and she in good faith in his story had delivered the casket to Doe. But then later came Roe demanding it, charging his partner with wronging him, and if she had to pay for those valuables it would ruin her. Have no fear, said young Ivo, I will go to court tomorrow, for you. When the case was called before the Judge, and the merchant Roe charged the widow with breach of faith, Not so, pleaded Ivo, the plaintiff has not proved his case
14.
Star of David
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The Star of David, known in Hebrew as the Shield of David or Magen David, is a generally recognized symbol of modern Jewish identity and Judaism. Its shape is that of a hexagram, the compound of two equilateral triangles, unlike the menorah, the Lion of Judah, the shofar and the lulav, the Star of David was never a uniquely Jewish symbol. During the 19th century the symbol began to proliferate amongst the Jewish communities of Eastern Europe, a significant motivating factor was the desire to imitate the influence of the Christian cross. The earliest Jewish usage of the symbol was inherited from medieval Arabic literature by Kabbalists for use in talismanic protective amulets where it was known as a Seal of Solomon. The symbol was used in Christian churches as a decorative motif many centuries before its first known use in a Jewish synagogue. The symbol became representative of the worldwide Zionist community, and later the broader Jewish community, the identification of the term Star of David or Shield of David with the hexagram shape dates to the 17th century. The term Shield of David is also used in the Siddur as a title of the God of Israel, the hexagram does appear occasionally in Jewish contexts since antiquity, apparently as a decorative motif. For example, in Israel, there is a bearing a hexagram from the arch of a 3rd–4th century synagogue in the Galilee. Originally, the hexagram may have employed as an architectural ornament on synagogues, as it is, for example, on the cathedrals of Brandenburg and Stendal. A pentagram in this form is found on the ancient synagogue at Tell Hum, in the synagogues, perhaps, it was associated with the mezuzah. Similarly, the symbol illuminates a medieval Tanakh manuscript dated 1307 belonging to Rabbi Yosef bar Yehuda ben Marvas from Toledo, Spain. A Siddur dated 1512 from Prague displays a large hexagram on the cover with the phrase, turcomans who ruled in Anatolia during the 13th century, inherited it from the Seljuk Turks. A hexagram has been noted on a Jewish tombstone in Taranto, Apulia in Southern Italy, the Jews of Apulia were noted for their scholarship in Kabbalah, which has been connected to the use of the Star of David. Medieval Kabbalistic grimoires show hexagrams among the tables of segulot, the six sfirot of the masculine Zer Anpin correspond to the six items on the seder plate, while the seventh sfira being the feminine Malkhut corresponds to the plate itself. However, these triangles are parallel, one above the other. According to G. S. Oegema Isaac Luria provided the hexagram with a further mystical meaning, similarly, M. Costa wrote that M. Some say that one represents the ruling tribe of Judah. It is also seen as a dalet and yud, the two assigned to Judah
15.
Pietro da Cortona
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Pietro da Cortona was an Italian Baroque painter and architect. Along with his contemporaries and rivals Gian Lorenzo Bernini and Francesco Borromini and he was also an important designer of interior decorations. He was born Pietro Berrettini, but is known by the name of his native town of Cortona in Tuscany. He worked mainly in Rome and Florence, only a limited number of his architectural projects were built but nonetheless they are as distinctive and as inventive as those of his rivals. Berrettini was born into a family of artisans and masons, in Cortona and he trained in painting in Florence under Andrea Commodi, but soon he departed for Rome at around 1612/3, where he joined the studio of Baccio Ciarpi. In Rome, he had encouragement from many prominent patrons, according to Cortonas biographers his gifted copy of Raphaels Galatea fresco brought him to the attention of Marcello Sacchetti, papal treasurer during the Barberini papacy. Such contacts helped him gain a major commission in Rome. In 1633, Pope Urban VIII commissioned from Cortona a large painting for the main salon ceiling of the Barberini family palace. It was completed six years later, following Cortonas influential visit to northern Italy where he would have seen at first hand perspectival works by Paolo Veronese, Cortonas huge Allegory of Divine Providence and Barberini Power marks a watershed in Baroque painting. The ornamented architectural framework essentially forms five compartments, the central and most significant part celebrates the glorification of the reign of Urban VIII in a light filled scene populated with allegorical figures and Barberini family emblems. The illusion of spatial extension through paint, the grandiose theme, the first two represented the ages of silver and gold. In 1641, he was recalled to paint the Bronze Age and he began work on the decoration of the grand-ducal reception rooms on the first floor of the Palazzo Pitti, now part of the Palatine Gallery. These highly ornate ceilings with frescoes and elaborate stucco work essentially celebrate the Medici lineage, Pietro left Florence in 1647, and his pupil and collaborator, Ciro Ferri, completed the cycle by the 1660s. For a number of years, Cortona was involved for decades in the decoration of the frescoes in the Oratorian Chiesa Nuova in Rome. Other frescoes are in Palazzo Pamphilj in Piazza Navona, in 1660, he executed The Stoning of Saint Stephen for the church of San Ambrogio della Massima in Rome. The work currently hangs in the Hermitage, towards the end of his life he devoted much of his time to architecture, but he published a treatise on painting in 1652 under a pseudonym and in collaboration. He refused invitations to both France and Spain and he was elected as director of the Academy of St Luke the painters guild in Rome, in 1634. It was at the Academy in 1636 that Cortona and Andrea Sacchi were involved in controversies regarding the number of figures that were appropriate in a painted work
16.
Giacomo della Porta
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Giacomo della Porta was an Italian architect and sculptor, who worked on many important buildings in Rome, including St. Peters Basilica. He was born at Porlezza, Lombardy and died in Rome, della Porta was influenced by and collaborated with Michelangelo, and Giacomo Barozzi da Vignola, his teacher of architecture. After the death of Vignola in 1573, he continued the construction of Il Gesù, the church of the Jesuit order. From 1573 he was in charge of the construction of St. Peters Basilica. Trinità de Monti Fontana di Piazza alli Monti Cupola of St. Peters Basilica Fountains at the Piazza di Santa Maria in Campitelli Fountains opposite SS. Venanzio e Ansovino Fontana della Terrina Sculpture Christ delivering the keys of Heaven to St. Peter, altar of the St. Jan Birksted, 183-201
17.
San Carlo alle Quattro Fontane
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The church of San Carlo alle Quattro Fontane, also called San Carlino, is a Roman Catholic church in Rome, Italy. The church was designed by the architect Francesco Borromini and it was his first independent commission and he received the commission in 1634, under the patronage of Cardinal Francesco Barberini, whose palace was across the road. However, this financial backing did not last and subsequently the project suffered various financial difficulties. It is one of at least three churches in Rome dedicated to San Carlo, including San Carlo ai Catinari and San Carlo al Corso. The monastic buildings and the cloister were completed first after which construction of the church took place during the period 1638-1641, Berninis oval church of SantAndrea al Quirinale would later be built further along the Strada Pia. The inscriptions found in San Carlo, a valuable source illustrating the history of the church, have collected and published by Vincenzo Forcella. The concave-convex facade of San Carlo undulates in a non-classic way, tall corinthian columns stand on plinths and bear the main entablatures, these define the main framework of two storeys and the tripartite bay division. The medallion once contained a 1677 fresco by a Pietro Giarguzzi of the Holy Trinity, the plan and section show the layout of the cramped and difficult site, the church is on the corner with the cloister next to it and both face onto the Via Pia. The monastic buildings straddle the site, beyond which Borromini intended to design a garden, the church interior is both extraordinary and complex. The three principal parts can be identified vertically as the order at ground level, the transition zone of the pendentives. In the lower part of the church, the altar is on the same longitudinal axis as the door. One altar is dedicated to Saint Michael de Sanctis, the dedicated to Saint John Baptist of the Conception. Between these, and arranged in groups of four, sixteen columns carry a broad and this creates an undulating movement effect which is enhanced by the variation in treatment of the bays between the columns with niches, mouldings, and doors. The pendentives are part of the area where the undulating almost cross-like form of the lower order is reconciled with the oval opening to the dome. The oval entablature to the dome has a crown of foliage and frames a view of deep set interlocking coffering of octagons, crosses, light floods in from windows in the lower dome that are hidden by the oval opening and from windows in the side of the lantern. Flanking the apse of the altar is a pair of identical doorways. The right door leads to the convent through which the crypts below may be accessed, the door on the left leads to an external chapel known as Capella Barberini which contains a shrine to blessed Elisabeth Canori Mora. The crypt below follows the size and form of the church and has a low pierced vault, chapels open off this space, including an octagonal chapel on the south-east side where Borromini intended to be buried
18.
Pope Urban VIII
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Pope Urban VIII, reigned as Pope from 6 August 1623 to his death in 1644. He expanded the territory by force of arms and advantageous politicking, and was also a prominent patron of the arts. However, the debts incurred during his pontificate greatly weakened his successors. He was also involved in a controversy with Galileo and his theory on heliocentrism during his reign and he is the most recent pope to date to take the pontifical name of Urban upon being elected as pope. He was born Maffeo Barberini in April 1568 to Antonio Barberini, a Florentine nobleman and his father died when he was only three years old and his mother took him to Rome, where he was put in the charge of his uncle, Francesco Barberini, an apostolic protonotary. At the age of 16 he became his uncles heir and he was educated by the Society of Jesus, and received a doctorate of law from the University of Pisa in 1589. In 1601, Barberini, through the influence of his uncle, was able to secure from Pope Clement VIII appointment as a legate to the court of King Henry IV of France. In 1604, the pope appointed him as the Archbishop of Nazareth. At the death of his uncle, he inherited his riches, on 6 August 1623, at the papal conclave following the death of Pope Gregory XV, Barberini was chosen as Gregory XVs successor and took the name Urban VIII. Upon Pope Urban VIIIs election, Zeno, the Venetian envoy, wrote the description of him. His Holiness is tall, dark, with features and black hair turning grey. He is exceptionally elegant and refined in all details of his dress, has a graceful and aristocratic bearing and he is an excellent speaker and debater, writes verses and patronises poets and men of letters. Urban VIIIs papacy covered 21 years of the Thirty Years War, despite an early friendship and encouragement for his teachings, Urban VIII was responsible for summoning the scientist and astronomer Galileo to Rome in 1633 to recant his work. Urban VIII practiced nepotism on a scale, various members of his family were enormously enriched by him. He elevated his brother Antonio Marcello Barberini and then his nephews Francesco Barberini and he also bestowed upon their brother, Taddeo Barberini, the titles Prince of Palestrina, Gonfalonier of the Church, Prefect of Rome and Commander of SantAngelo. Historian Leopold von Ranke estimated that during his reign, Urban VIIIs immediate family amassed 105 million scudi in personal wealth, Urban VIII was a skilled writer of Latin verse, and a collection of Scriptural paraphrases as well as original hymns of his composition have been frequently reprinted. The 1638 papal bull Commissum Nobis protected the existence of Jesuit missions in South America by forbidding the enslavement of natives who were at the Jesuit Reductions. At the same time, Urban VIII repealed the Jesuit monopoly on missionary work in China and Japan, opening these countries to missionaries of other orders and missionary societies
19.
Church of Our Saviour, Copenhagen
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It is also noted for its carillon, which is the largest in northern Europe and plays melodies every hour from 8 am to midnight. When Christian IV planned Christianshavn in 1617, it was intended as an independent merchants town on the island of Amager, a temporary church was inaugurated in 1639 but construction of the present Church of Our Saviour, the design of Lambert van Haven, did not start until 1682. The church was inaugurated 14 years later in 1695 but important interior features like the altar had a temporary character. The church got its permanent altar in 1732 but plans for construction of the spire was not revitalized until 1747 under the reign of Frederik V, the new architect on the project was Lauritz de Thurah. He soon abandoned van Havens original design in favour of his own project that was approved by the King in 1749, three years later the spire was finished and the King climbed the tower at a ceremony on 28 August 1752. There is an urban legend stating that the architect killed himself by jumping from the top of the spire. This is not about Lambert van Haven, since the spire was added to the church almost 50 years after his death, the church is built in a Dutch baroque style and its basic layout is a Greek cross. The walls rest on a foundation and are made of red and yellow tiles. The facade is segmented by pilasters in the giant order. The pilasters are of the Tuscan order with bases and capitals in sandstone, the cornice is also in sandstone but with a frieze in tiles. Between the pilasters are tall round-arched windows with glass and iron cames. There are entrances at the gable of the cross arms except for the gable where the sacristy is added. The main entrance is in the gable below the tower and has a sandstone portal. All entrances are raised four steps from street level, at each side of the tower, there is a gate at street level leading to the two crypts of the church. The roof is vaulted and covered in black-glazed tiles, the altarpiece is the work of Nicodemus Tessins and is considered a masterpiece. It depicts a scene from the Garden of Gethsemane between two columns, where Jesus is comforted by an angel while another angel hangs in the air beside them, on each side, two figures of Pietas and Justitia illustrate the Kings motto. The two columns carry a broken, curved architrave and gable, behind the opening of the broken gable is placed a pane with Jahves name in Hebrew inscribed and lit from behind. Around the pane is an arrangement of gilded beans and cloud formations, the huge organ with Christian V’s gilded monogram was built by the Botzen Brothers from 1698-1700 and is mounted on the wall and supported by two elephants
20.
Copenhagen
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Copenhagen, Danish, København, Latin, Hafnia) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark. Copenhagen has an population of 1,280,371. The Copenhagen metropolitan area has just over 2 million inhabitants, the city is situated on the eastern coast of the island of Zealand, another small portion of the city is located on Amager, and is separated from Malmö, Sweden, by the strait of Øresund. The Øresund Bridge connects the two cities by rail and road, originally a Viking fishing village founded in the 10th century, Copenhagen became the capital of Denmark in the early 15th century. Beginning in the 17th century it consolidated its position as a centre of power with its institutions, defences. After suffering from the effects of plague and fire in the 18th century and this included construction of the prestigious district of Frederiksstaden and founding of such cultural institutions as the Royal Theatre and the Royal Academy of Fine Arts. Later, following the Second World War, the Finger Plan fostered the development of housing, since the turn of the 21st century, Copenhagen has seen strong urban and cultural development, facilitated by investment in its institutions and infrastructure. The city is the cultural, economic and governmental centre of Denmark, Copenhagens economy has seen rapid developments in the service sector, especially through initiatives in information technology, pharmaceuticals and clean technology. Since the completion of the Øresund Bridge, Copenhagen has become integrated with the Swedish province of Scania and its largest city, Malmö. With a number of connecting the various districts, the cityscape is characterized by parks, promenades. Copenhagen is home to the University of Copenhagen, the Technical University of Denmark, the University of Copenhagen, founded in 1479, is the oldest university in Denmark. Copenhagen is home to the FC København and Brøndby football clubs, the annual Copenhagen Marathon was established in 1980. Copenhagen is one of the most bicycle-friendly cities in the world, the Copenhagen Metro serves central Copenhagen while the Copenhagen S-train network connects central Copenhagen to its outlying boroughs. Serving roughly 2 million passengers a month, Copenhagen Airport, Kastrup, is the largest airport in the Nordic countries, the name of the city reflects its origin as a harbour and a place of commerce. The original designation, from which the contemporary Danish name derives, was Køpmannæhafn, meaning merchants harbour, the literal English translation would be Chapmans haven. The English name for the city was adapted from its Low German name, the abbreviations Kbh. or Kbhvn are often used in Danish for København, and kbh. for københavnsk. The chemical element hafnium is named for Copenhagen, where it was discovered, the bacterium Hafnia is also named after Copenhagen, Vagn Møller of the State Serum Institute in Copenhagen named it in 1954. Excavations in Pilestræde have also led to the discovery of a well from the late 12th century, the remains of an ancient church, with graves dating to the 11th century, have been unearthed near where Strøget meets Rådhuspladsen
21.
Denmark
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The term Danish Realm refers to the relationship between Denmark proper, the Faroe Islands and Greenland—three countries constituting the Kingdom of Denmark. The legal nature of the Kingdom of Denmark is fundamentally one of a sovereign state. The Faroe Islands and Greenland have been part of the Crown of Denmark since 1397 when the Kalmar Union was ratified, legal matters in The Danish Realm are subject to the Danish Constitution. Beginning in 1953, state law issues within The Danish Realm has been governed by The Unity of the Realm, a less formal name for The Unity of the Realm is the Commonwealth of the Realm. In 1978, The Unity of The Realm was for the first time referred to as rigsfællesskabet. The name caught on and since the 1990s, both The Unity of The Realm and The Danish Realm itself has increasingly been referred to as simply rigsfællesskabet in daily parlance. The Danish Constitution stipulates that the foreign and security interests for all parts of the Danish Realm are the responsibility of the Danish government, the Faroes received home rule in 1948 and Greenland did so in 1979. In 2005, the Faroes received a self-government arrangement, and in 2009 Greenland received self rule, the Danish Realms unique state of internal affairs is acted out in the principle of The Unity of the Realm. This principle is derived from Article 1 of the Danish Constitution which specifies that constitutional law applies equally to all areas of the Danish Realm, the Constitutional Act specifies that sovereignty is to continue to be exclusively with the authorities of the Realm. The language of Denmark is Danish, and the Danish state authorities are based in Denmark, the Kingdom of Denmarks parliament, with its 179 members, is located in the capital, Copenhagen. Two of the members are elected in each of Greenland and the Faroe Islands. The Government ministries are located in Copenhagen, as is the highest court, in principle, the Danish Realm constitutes a unified sovereign state, with equal status between its constituent parts. Devolution differs from federalism in that the powers of the subnational authority ultimately reside in central government. The Self-Government Arrangements devolves political competence and responsibility from the Danish political authorities to the Faroese, the Faroese and Greenlandic authorities administer the tasks taken over from the state, enact legislation in these specific fields and have the economic responsibility for solving these tasks. The Danish government provides a grant to the Faroese and the Greenlandic authorities to cover the costs of these devolved areas. The 1948 Home Rule Act of the Faroe Islands sets out the terms of Faroese home rule, the Act states. the Faroe Islands shall constitute a self-governing community within the State of Denmark. It establishes the government of the Faroe Islands and the Faroese parliament. The Faroe Islands were previously administered as a Danish county, the Home Rule Act abolished the post of Amtmand and these powers were expanded in a 2005 Act, which named the Faroese home government as an equal partner with the Danish government
22.
Pantheon, Rome
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The Pantheon is a former Roman temple, now a church, in Rome, Italy, on the site of an earlier temple commissioned by Marcus Agrippa during the reign of Augustus. The present building was completed by the emperor Hadrian and probably dedicated about 126 AD and he retained Agrippas original inscription, which has confused its date of construction as the original Pantheon burnt down so it is not certain when the present one was built. The building is circular with a portico of large granite Corinthian columns under a pediment, a rectangular vestibule links the porch to the rotunda, which is under a coffered concrete dome, with a central opening to the sky. Almost two thousand years after it was built, the Pantheons dome is still the worlds largest unreinforced concrete dome, the height to the oculus and the diameter of the interior circle are the same,43.3 metres. Mary and the Martyrs but informally known as Santa Maria Rotonda, the square in front of the Pantheon is called Piazza della Rotonda. The Pantheon is a property, ruled by Italys Ministry of Cultural Heritage and Activities and Tourism through the Polo Museale del Lazio. The Pantheons large circular domed cella, with a temple portico front, is unique in Roman architecture. Nevertheless, it became a standard exemplar when classical styles were revived, Pantheon is derived from the Ancient Greek Pantheion meaning of, relating to, or common to all the gods. His uncertainty strongly suggests that Pantheon was merely a nickname, not the name of the building. In fact, the concept of a dedicated to all the gods is questionable. The only definite pantheon recorded earlier than Agrippas was at Antioch in Syria and it seems highly significant that Dio does not quote the simplest explanation for the name—that the Pantheon was dedicated to all the gods. Godfrey and Hemsoll maintain that the word Pantheon need not denote a group of gods, or, indeed, even all the gods. Certainly the word pantheus or pantheos, could be applicable to individual deities…, bearing in mind also that the Greek word θεῖος need not mean of a god but could mean superhuman, or even excellent. It seems likely that the Pantheon and the Basilica of Neptune were Agrippas sacra privata and this less solemn designation would help explain how the building could have so easily lost its original name and purpose in such a relatively short period of time. However, archaeological excavations have shown that the Pantheon of Agrippa had been destroyed except for the façade. Lise Hetland argues that the present construction began in 114, under Trajan and her argument is particularly interesting in light of Heilmeyers argument that, based on stylistic evidence, Apollodorus of Damascus, Trajans architect, was the obvious architect. The form of Agrippas Pantheon is debated and this description was widely accepted until the late 20th century. The only passages referring to the decoration of the Agrippan Pantheon written by an eyewitness are in Plinys Natural History, from him we know that the capitals, too, of the pillars, which were placed by M
23.
Piazza Navona
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Piazza Navona is a piazza in Rome, Italy. It is built on the site of the Stadium of Domitian, built in 1st century AD, the ancient Romans went there to watch the agones, and hence it was known as Circus Agonalis. It is believed that time the name changed to in avone to navone. Piazza Navona has two other fountains, at the southern end is the Fontana del Moro with a basin and four Tritons sculpted by Giacomo della Porta to which, in 1673, Bernini added a statue of a Moor, or African, wrestling with a dolphin. At the northern end is the Fountain of Neptune also created by Giacomo della Porta, during its history, the piazza has hosted theatrical events and other ephemeral activities. From 1652 until 1866, when the festival was suppressed, it was flooded on every Saturday and Sunday in August in elaborate celebrations of the Pamphilj family. The pavement level was raised in the 19th century, and in 1869 the market was moved to the nearby Campo de Fiori, a Christmas market is held in the piazza. During June 2008, Ron Howard directed several scenes of the adaptation of Angels & Demons on the southern section of the piazza. The piazza is featured in scenes of director Mike Nichols 1970 adaptation of Joseph Hellers novel. The Fontana dei Quattro Fiumi was used in the 1990 film Coins in the Fountain, the characters threw coins into the fountain as they made wishes. The Trevi Fountain was used in the 1954 version of the film, the piazza is featured in Eugene Levys Once Upon A Crime film. In the early hours of 3 September 2011, the Fontana del Moro was damaged by a vandal, roth, Leland M. Understanding Architecture, Its Elements, History, and Meaning. Birds eye view of Piazza Navona, virtual Tour of Piazza Navona Bernini Fountains Video Introduction
24.
Pons Cestius
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The Pons Cestius is a Roman stone bridge in Rome, Italy, spanning the Tiber to the west of the Tiber Island. The original version of bridge was built around the 1st century BC, after the Pons Fabricius. The Pons Cestius is the first bridge that reached the bank of Tiber from the Tiber Island. Several prominent members of the Cestii clan from the 1st century BC are known, in the 4th century the Pons Cestius was rebuilt by the Emperors Valentinian I, Valens and Gratian and re-dedicated in 370 as the Pons Gratiani. The bridge was rebuilt using tuff and peperino, with a facing of travertine, some of the rebuilding material came from the demolished porticus of the nearby Theatre of Marcellus. During the building of the walls along the embankment in 1888–1892. The ancient bridge, which had two arches, was simply not long enough. A new bridge, with three arches, was constructed in its stead, with its central arch reusing about two-thirds of the original material. List of Roman bridges Roman architecture Roman engineering O’Connor, Colin
25.
Pons Fabricius
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The Pons Fabricius or Ponte dei Quattro Capi, is the oldest Roman bridge in Rome, Italy, still existing in its original state. Built in 62 BC, it spans half of the Tiber River, Quattro Capi refers to the two marble pillars of the two-faced Janus herms on the parapet, which were moved here from the nearby Church of St Gregory in the 14th century. According to Dio Cassius, the bridge was built in 62 BC and it was commissioned by Lucius Fabricius, the curator of the roads and a member of the gens Fabricia of Rome. Completely intact from Roman antiquity, it has been in use ever since. The Pons Fabricius has a length of 62 m, and is 5.5 m wide and it is constructed from two wide arches, supported by a central pillar in the middle of the stream. Its core is constructed of tuff and its outer facing today is made of bricks and travertine. An original inscription on the travertine commemorates its builder in Latin and it is repeated four times, on each arch, on both sides of the bridge. A later inscription, in lettering, records that the bridge was later restored under Pope Innocent XI. List of Roman bridges Roman architecture Roman engineering O’Connor, Colin, Roman Bridges, Cambridge University Press, p
26.
Ponte Milvio
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The Milvian Bridge is a bridge over the Tiber in northern Rome, Italy. It was an economically and strategically important bridge in the era of the Roman Empire and was the site of the famous Battle of the Milvian Bridge. A bridge was built by consul Gaius Claudius Nero in 206 BC after he had defeated the Carthaginian army in the Battle of the Metaurus, in 115 BC, consul Marcus Aemilius Scaurus built a new bridge of stone in the same position, demolishing the old one. In 63 BC, letters from the conspirators of the Catiline conspiracy were intercepted here, in AD312, Constantine I defeated his stronger rival Maxentius between this bridge and Saxa Rubra, in the famous Battle of the Milvian Bridge. During the Middle Ages, the bridge was renovated by a monk named Acuzio, during the 18th and 19th centuries, the bridge was modified by two architects, Giuseppe Valadier and Domenico Pigiani. The bridge was damaged in 1849 by Garibaldis troops, in an attempt to block a French invasion. In 2000s, the bridge began attracting couples, who use a lamppost on the bridge to attach love padlocks as a token of love, the ritual involves the couple locking the padlock to the lamppost, then throwing the key behind them into the Tiber. The ritual was invented by author Federico Moccia for his popular book, after April 13,2007, couples had to stop this habit because that day the lamppost, due to the weight of all padlocks, partially collapsed. However, couples decided to attach their padlocks elsewhere, in fact, all around the bridge, road posts and even garbage bins have been used to place these love padlocks. As an online replacement, a web site has been created allowing couples to use virtual padlocks, in 2007, the mayor of Rome introduced a 50 euro fine on couples found attaching padlocks to the bridge. Similar love padlocks traditions have appeared in Italy and the rest of Europe, in September 2012, the city council decided to remove all padlocks by force. There was a risk that the bridge would collapse under the weight. List of Roman bridges Roman architecture Roman engineering O’Connor, Colin, Roman Bridges, Cambridge University Press, ISBN 0-521-39326-4 Media related to Ponte Milvio at Wikimedia Commons Pons Mulvius at Structurae Ritual draws sweethearts to Rome bridge article describing the padlock ritual Google Map
27.
Ponte Sant'Angelo
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The bridge is faced with travertine marble and spans the Tiber with five arches, three of which are Roman, it was approached by means of ramp from the river. The bridge is now solely pedestrian, and provides a vista of the Castel SantAngelo. It links the rioni of Ponte, and Borgo, to whom the bridge administratively belongs, dante writes in his Comedy that during the jubilee of 1300, due to the large number of pilgrims going and coming from Saint Peter, two separate lanes were arranged on the bridge. During the 1450 jubilee, balustrades of the bridge yielded, due to the crowds of the pilgrims. In response, some houses at the head of the bridge as well as a Roman triumphal arch were pulled down in order to widen the route for pilgrims. For centuries after the 16th century, the bridge was used to expose the bodies of the executed in the nearby Piazza di Ponte, in 1669 Pope Clement IX commissioned replacements for the aging stucco angels by Raffaello da Montelupo, commissioned by Paul III. They are now in the church of SantAndrea delle Fratte, also in Rome, for the Great Jubilee in 2000, the Lungotevere on the right bank between the bridge and the castle became a pedestrian area. List of Roman bridges Roman architecture Roman engineering Notes Sources O’Connor, Colin, Roman Bridges, Cambridge University Press, satellite image Angels of the Passion Multimedia feature from Beliefnet. com
28.
Ponte Sisto
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Ponte Sisto is a bridge in Romes historic centre, spanning the river Tiber. It connects Via dei Pettinari in the Rione of Regola to Piazza Trilussa in Trastevere, currently traffic on the bridge is restricted to pedestrians. The Pons Antoninus was partially destroyed in 772, at the time the Lombard king Desiderius took Rome, the bridge still carries the water of the Acqua Paola across the river in eight large pipes. In 1877, two large cast-iron pedestrian gangways resting on consoles were added to the sides of the bridge
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Churches of Rome
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There are more than 900 churches in Rome, including some notable Roman Catholic Marian churches. Most, but not all, of these are Roman Catholic, the first churches of Rome originated in places where Christians met. Peters, Basilica of Saint Paul Outside the Walls, Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore, only the tituli were allowed to distribute sacraments. The most important priest in a titulus was given the name of Cardinal, Pope Marcellus I confirmed that the tituli were the only centres of administration in the Church. Peters Basilica were referred to as the seven cardinals of S. Peters, the four basilicas had no cardinal, since they were under the direct supervision of the Pope. The Basilica of St. John Lateran was also the seat of the bishop of Rome, in the Great Jubilee in 2000, the seventh church was instead Santuario della Madonna del Divino Amore as appointed by Pope John Paul II. This is a list of churches of Rome cited in Wikipedia articles or with related files on Wikimedia Commons, the churches are grouped according to the time of their initial construction, the dates are those of the first record of each church. The reader, however, should not expect the current fabric of the buildings to reflect that age, almost all the churches will thus appear considerably more recent, and as a patchwork of periods and styles. A number of interesting churches are now closed, it must be noted, except on special occasions and these include, Santa Balbina, Santi Nereo e Achilleo, San Cesareo in Palatio and SantUrbano. Architecture of Rome Religion in Rome Kehr, Paul Fridolin, Rome of the Pilgrims and Martyrs, A Study in the Martyrologies, Itineraries, Syllogae, & Other Contemporary Documents. Le chiese di Roma nel medio evo, cataloghi ed appvnti, H. W. Klewitz, Die Entstehung des Kardinalskollegiums, Zeitschrift der Savigny-Stiftung für Rechtsgeschichte. Krautheimer, R. Corpus Basilicarum Christianarum Romae, vol, cardinalis, The History of a Canonical Concept. A Catholics Guide to Rome, Discovering the Soul of the Eternal City, thayers Churches of Rome, including the books by Christian Huelsen, Mariano Armellini, and Filippo Titi Clarkes Churches of Rome Map of titular churches
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St. Peter's Basilica
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The Papal Basilica of St. Peter in the Vatican, or simply St. Peters Basilica, is an Italian Renaissance church in Vatican City, the papal enclave within the city of Rome. While it is neither the church of the Catholic Church nor the cathedral of the Diocese of Rome. It has been described as holding a position in the Christian world. Catholic tradition holds that the Basilica is the site of Saint Peter, one of Christs Apostles. Saint Peters tomb is supposedly directly below the altar of the Basilica. For this reason, many Popes have been interred at St. Peters since the Early Christian period, construction of the present basilica, which would replace Old St. Peters Basilica from the 4th century AD, began on 18 April 1506 and was completed on 18 November 1626. St. Peters is famous as a place of pilgrimage and for its liturgical functions. The Pope presides at a number of liturgies throughout the year, drawing audiences of 15,000 to over 80,000 people, either within the Basilica or the adjoining St. Peters Square. St. Peters has many associations, with the Early Christian Church, the Papacy. As a work of architecture, it is regarded as the greatest building of its age, St. Peters is one of the four churches in the world that hold the rank of Major Basilica, all four of which are in Rome. Contrary to popular misconception, it is not a cathedral because it is not the seat of a bishop, St. Peters is a church built in the Renaissance style located in the Vatican City west of the River Tiber and near the Janiculum Hill and Hadrians Mausoleum. Its central dome dominates the skyline of Rome, the basilica is approached via St. Peters Square, a forecourt in two sections, both surrounded by tall colonnades. The first space is oval and the second trapezoid, the basilica is cruciform in shape, with an elongated nave in the Latin cross form but the early designs were for a centrally planned structure and this is still in evidence in the architecture. The central space is dominated both externally and internally by one of the largest domes in the world, the entrance is through a narthex, or entrance hall, which stretches across the building. One of the bronze doors leading from the narthex is the Holy Door. The interior is of vast dimensions when compared with other churches and this in its turn overwhelms us. The nave which leads to the dome is in three bays, with piers supporting a barrel-vault, the highest of any church. The nave is framed by wide aisles which have a number of chapels off them, there are also chapels surrounding the dome
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Sistine Chapel
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The Sistine Chapel is a chapel in the Apostolic Palace, the official residence of the Pope, in Vatican City. Originally known as the Cappella Magna, the chapel takes its name from Pope Sixtus IV, since that time, the chapel has served as a place of both religious and functionary papal activity. Today it is the site of the Papal conclave, the process by which a new pope is selected, the fame of the Sistine Chapel lies mainly in the frescos that decorate the interior, and most particularly the Sistine Chapel ceiling and The Last Judgment by Michelangelo. In a different climate after the Sack of Rome, he returned, the fame of Michelangelos paintings has drawn multitudes of visitors to the chapel ever since they were revealed five hundred years ago. At the time of Pope Sixtus IV in the late 15th century, there were 50 occasions during the year on which it was prescribed by the Papal Calendar that the whole Papal Chapel should meet. Of these 50 occasions,35 were masses, of which 8 were held in Basilicas, in general St. Peters and these included the Christmas Day and Easter masses, at which the Pope himself was the celebrant. The other 27 masses could be held in a smaller, less public space, the Cappella Maggiore derived its name, the Greater Chapel, from the fact that there was another chapel also in use by the Pope and his retinue for daily worship. At the time of Pope Sixtus IV, this was the Chapel of Pope Nicholas V, the Cappella Maggiore is recorded as existing in 1368. The proportions of the present chapel appear to follow those of the original. The first mass in the Sistine Chapel was celebrated on 15 August 1483, the Sistine Chapel has maintained its function to the present day, and continues to host the important services of the Papal Calendar, unless the Pope is travelling. There is a permanent choir, the Sistine Chapel Choir, for whom much original music has been written, one of the functions of the Sistine Chapel is as a venue for the election of each successive pope in a conclave of the College of Cardinals. On the occasion of a conclave, a chimney is installed in the roof of the chapel, if white smoke appears, created by burning the ballots of the election, a new Pope has been elected. The conclave also provided for the cardinals a space in which they can hear mass, and in which they can eat, sleep, and pass time attended by servants. From 1455, conclaves have been held in the Vatican, until the Great Schism, canopies for each cardinal-elector were once used during conclaves—a sign of equal dignity. After the new Pope accepts his election, he would give his new name, at this time, until reforms instituted by Saint Pius X, the canopies were of different colours to designate which Cardinals had been appointed by which Pope. Its exterior is unadorned by architectural or decorative details, as is common in many Italian churches of the Medieval, subsidence and cracking of masonry such as must also have affected the Cappella Maggiore has necessitated the building of very large buttresses to brace the exterior walls. The accretion of other buildings has further altered the appearance of the Chapel. The building is divided into three stories of which the lowest is a tall basement level with several utilitarian windows
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Archbasilica of St. John Lateran
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It is the oldest of and has precedence among the four papal major basilicas, all of which are in Rome, because it is the oldest church in the West and houses the cathedra of the Roman Pontiff. It has the title of ecumenical mother church of the Roman Catholic faithful, the current archpriest is Agostino Vallini, Cardinal Vicar General for the Diocese of Rome. The archbasilica stands over the remains of the Castra Nova equitum singularium, the fort was established by Septimius Severus in AD193. Following the victory of Emperor Constantine I over Maxentius at the Battle of the Milvian Bridge, the guard was abolished, substantial remains of the fort lie directly beneath the nave. The remainder of the site was occupied during the early Roman Empire by the palace of the gens Laterani, sextius Lateranus was the first plebeian to attain the rank of consul, and the Laterani served as administrators for several emperors. One of the Laterani, Consul-designate Plautius Lateranus, became famous for being accused by Nero of conspiracy against the Emperor, the accusation resulted in the confiscation and redistribution of his properties. The Lateran Palace fell into the hands of the Emperor when Constantine I married his second wife Fausta, known by that time as the Domus Faustae or House of Fausta, the Lateran Palace was eventually given to the Bishop of Rome by Constantine I. The palace basilica was converted and extended, becoming the residence of Pope St. Silvester I, eventually becoming the Cathedral of Rome, Pope Sylvester I presided over the official dedication of the archbasilica and the adjacent Lateran Palace in 324, declaring both to be a Domus Dei. The papal cathedra was placed in its interior, rendering it the cathedral of the Pope qua Bishop of Rome, the archbasilica and Lateran Palace were re-dedicated twice. Pope Sergius III dedicated them to St. John the Baptist in the 10th century in honor of the newly consecrated baptistry of the archbasilica, Pope Lucius II dedicated them to St. John the Evangelist in the 12th century. Consequently, the archbasilica remains dedicated to the Savior, and its titular feast is the Feast of the Transfiguration, the archbasilica became the most important shrine of the two St. Johns, albeit infrequently jointly venerated. In later years, a Benedictine monastery was established in the Lateran Palace, and was devoted to serving the archbasilica, the Lateran Palace has also been the site of five ecumenical councils. During the time the papacy was seated in Avignon, France, the Lateran Palace, two fires ravaged them in 1307 and 1361. After both fires the pope sent money from Avignon to pay for their reconstruction and maintenance, nonetheless, the archbasilica and Lateran Palace lost their former splendor. When the papacy returned from Avignon and the pope again resided in Rome, the archbasilica, the popes resided at the Basilica di Santa Maria in Trastevere and later at the Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore. Eventually, the Palace of the Vatican was built adjacent to the Basilica of St. Peter, which existed since the time of Emperor Constantine I, and it has remained the official residence of the pope. The original Lateran Palace was demolished and replaced with a new edifice, on the square in front of the Lateran Palace is the largest standing obelisk in the world, known as the Lateran Obelisk. It weighs an estimated 455 tons and it was commissioned by the Egyptian Pharaoh Thutmose III and erected by Thutmose IV before the great Karnak temple of Thebes, Egypt
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Basilica of San Clemente al Laterano
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The Basilica of Saint Clement is a Roman Catholic minor basilica dedicated to Pope Clement I located in Rome, Italy. The archaeological traces of the history were discovered in the 1860s by Joseph Mullooly. The lowest levels of the present basilica contain remnants of the foundation of a possibly republican era building that might have destroyed in the Great Fire of 64. An industrial building – probably the imperial mint of Rome from the late 1st century A. D. onwards, was built or remodelled on the site during the Flavian period. Shortly after an insula, or apartment block, was also built and it was separated from the industrial building by a narrow alleyway. About a hundred years later a mithraeum, a sanctuary of the cult of Mithras, was built in the courtyard of the insula. The main cult room, which is about 9. 6m long and 6m wide, was discovered in 1867, the exedra, the shallow apse at the far end of the low vaulted space, was trimmed with pumice to render it more cave-like. Central to the room of the sanctuary was found an altar, in the shape of a sarcophagus. The torchbearers Cautes and Cautopates appear on respectively the left and right faces of the same monument, a dedicatory inscription identifies the donor as one pater Cnaeus Arrius Claudianus, perhaps of the same clan as Titus Arrius Antoninus mother. Other monuments discovered in the include a bust of Sol kept in the sanctuary in a niche near the entrance. Fragments of statuary of the two torch bearers were also found, one of the rooms adjoining the main chamber has two oblong brickwork enclosures, one of which was used as a ritual refuse pit for remnants of the cult meal. All three monuments mentioned above are still on display in the mithraeum, a fourth monument, – a statue of St. Peter found in the speleums vestibule and still on display there – is not of the mysteries. At some time in the 4th century, the level of the industrial building was filled in with dirt and rubble. An apse was built out over part of the domus, whose lowest floor, restorations were undertaken in the 9th century and ca 1080-99. The early basilica was the site of councils presided over by Pope Zosimus and Symmachus, the last major event that took place in the lower basilica was the election in 1099 of Cardinal Rainerius of St Clemente as Pope Paschal II. Apart from those in Santa Maria Antiqua, the largest collection of Early Medieval wall paintings in Rome is to be found in the basilica of San Clemente. Clement, and on the life of St. Alexius, sisinnius encourages the servants in Italian Fili de le pute, traite. Which, translated into English means, Come on, you sons of bitches, carvoncello, give it to him from the back with the pole
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Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore
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The Basilica is located at 34 Piazza dellEsquilino, some five blocks southwest of Stazione Termini. Pursuant to the Lateran Treaty of 1929 between the Holy See and Italy, the Basilica is within Italian territory and not the territory of the Vatican City State and they prayed that she might make known to them how they were to dispose of their property in her honour. On 5 August, at the height of the Roman summer, in obedience to a vision of the Virgin Mary which they had the same night, the couple built a basilica in honour of Mary on the very spot which was covered with snow. From the fact that no mention whatever is made of this alleged miracle until a few hundred years later and it would seem that the legend has no historical basis. The legend is first reported only after AD1000 and it may be implied in what the Liber Pontificalis, of the early 13th century, says of Pope Liberius, He built the basilica of his own name near the Macellum of Livia. Its prevalence in the 15th century is shown in the painting of the Miracle of the Snow by Masolino da Panicale. The feast was originally called Dedicatio Sanctae Mariae, and was celebrated only in Rome until inserted for the first time into the General Roman Calendar, with ad Nives added to its name, in 1568. A congregation appointed by Pope Benedict XIV in 1741 proposed that the reading of the legend be struck from the Office, no action was taken on the proposal until 1969, when the reading of the legend was removed and the feast was called In dedicatione Basilicae S. Mariae. The legend is commemorated by dropping white rose petals from the dome during the celebration of the Mass. The earliest building on the site was the Liberian Basilica or Santa Maria Liberiana, Liberiana is still included in some versions of the basilicas formal name, and Liberian Basilica may be used as a contemporary as well as historical name. This building was replaced under Pope Sixtus III by the present structure dedicated to Mary. No Catholic church can be honoured with the title of basilica unless by apostolic grant or from immemorial custom, St. Mary Major is one of the only four that hold the title of major basilica. The other three are the Basilicas of St. John in the Lateran, St. Peters, along with all of the other four Major Basilicas, St. Mary Major is also styled a Papal basilica. St. Mary Major was associated with the Patriarchate of Antioch, Philip Neri on 25 February 1552. It is agreed that the present church was built under Pope Sixtus III, the dedicatory inscription on the triumphal arch, Sixtus Episcopus plebi Dei, is an indication of that Popes role in the construction. The church retains the core of its structure, despite several additional construction projects. Santa Maria Maggiore, one of the first churches built in honour of the Virgin Mary, was erected in the aftermath of the Council of Ephesus of 431. Pope Sixtus III built it to commemorate this decision and these fines enabled the papacy to carry out through the 5th century an ambitious building program, including Santa Maria Maggiore
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Basilica of Santa Maria in Ara Coeli
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The Basilica of St. Mary of the Altar of Heaven is a titular basilica in Rome, located on the highest summit of the Campidoglio. It is still the designated Church of the city council of Rome, the present Cardinal Priest of the Titulus Sancta Mariae de Aracoeli is Salvatore De Giorgi. Originally the church was named Sancta Maria in Capitolio, since it was sited on the Capitoline Hill of Ancient Rome, for this reason the figures of Augustus and of the Tiburtine sibyl are painted on either side of the arch above the high altar. A later legend substituted an apparition of the Virgin Mary, in The History of Money, Anthropologist Jack Weatherford goes into some detail about the churchs previous incarnation as the temple of Juno Moneta—on the Arx—after whom Money is named. From Moneta came the modem English words mint and money and, ultimately, today, the site of the Temple of Juno Moneta, the source of the great stream of Roman currency, has given way to the ancient. Brick church of Santa Maria in Aracoeli, centuries ago, church architects incorporated the ruins of the ancient temple into the new building. The church is thought to have replaced the auguraculum, the seat of the augurs. The foundation of the church was laid on the site of a Byzantine abbey mentioned in 574. Many buildings were built around the first church, in the part they gave rise to a cloister, while on the slopes of the hill a little quarter. Remains of these buildings - such as the church of San Biagio de Mercato. At first the church followed the Greek rite, a sign of the power of the Byzantine exarch, the arches that divide the nave from the aisles are supported on columns, no two precisely alike, scavenged from Roman ruins. During the Middle Ages, this became the centre of the religious. In 1571, Santa Maria in Aracoeli hosted the celebrations honoring Marcantonio Colonna after the victorious Battle of Lepanto over the Turkish fleet, marking this occasion, the compartmented ceiling was gilded and painted, to thank the Blessed Virgin for the victory. In 1797, with the Roman Republic, the basilica was deconsecrated and turned into a stable. The original unfinished façade has lost the mosaics and subsequent frescoes that decorated it, save a mosaic in the tympanum of the main door. The Gothic window is the detail that tourists can see from the bottom of the stairs. The church is built as a nave and two aisles that are divided by Roman columns, all different, taken from diverse antique monuments. Among its numerous treasures are Pinturicchios 15th-century frescoes depicting the life of Saint Bernardino of Siena in the Bufalini Chapel and it houses also Madonna Aracoeli, in the Altar
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Basilica of Saint Paul Outside the Walls
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The Basilica is within Italian territory and not the territory of the Vatican City State. James Michael Harvey was named Archpriest of the Basilica in 2012, in the 5th century it was larger than the Old St. Peters Basilica. The Christian poet Prudentius, who saw it at the time of emperor Honorius, under Pope St. Gregory the Great the Basilica was extensively modified. The pavement was raised to place the altar directly over St. Pauls tomb, a confession permitted access to the Apostles sepulcher. In that period there were two monasteries near the Basilica, St. Aristuss for men and St. Stefanos for women, masses were celebrated by a special body of clerics instituted by Pope Simplicius. Over time the monasteries and the Basilicas clergy declined, Pope St. Gregory II restored the former, as it lay outside the Aurelian Walls, the Basilica was damaged in the 9th century during a Saracen raid. In 937, when Saint Odo of Cluny came to Rome, Alberic II of Spoleto, Patrician of Rome, entrusted the monastery and basilica to his congregation, Pope Martin V entrusted it to the monks of the Congregation of Monte Cassino. It was then made an abbey nullius, the abbots jurisdiction extended over the districts of Civitella San Paolo, Leprignano, and Nazzano, all of which formed parishes. But the parish of San Paolo in Rome is under the jurisdiction of the cardinal vicar, the graceful cloister of the monastery was erected between 1220 and 1241. From 1215 until 1964 it was the seat of the Latin Patriarch of Alexandria, Pope Leo XII issued a document Ad plurimas encouraging donations for reconstruction. It was re-opened in 1840, and reconsecrated in 1855 with the presence of Pope Pius IX, the complete decoration and reconstruction, in charge of Luigi Poletti, took longer, however, and many countries made their contributions. The Viceroy of Egypt sent pillars of alabaster, the Emperor of Russia the precious malachite, the work on the principal façade, looking toward the Tiber, was completed by the Italian Government, which declared the church a national monument. On 23 April 1891 the explosion of the magazine at Forte Portuense destroyed the stained glass windows. On 31 May 2005 Pope Benedict XVI ordered the Basilica to come under the control of an Archpriest, the covered portico that precedes the façade is a Neo-classicist addition of the 19th-century reconstruction. The 20th-century door includes the remains of the leaves from the portal, executed by Staurachius of Chios around 1070 in Constantinople, with scenes from the New. On the right is the Holy Door, which is opened only during the Jubilees, the new basilica has maintained the original structure with one nave and four aisles. It is 131.66 metres long,65 metres -wide, and 29.70 metres -high, the naves 80 columns and its stucco-decorated ceiling are from the 19th century. All that remains of the ancient basilica are the portion of the apse with the triumphal arch
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Catacombs of Rome
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The Catacombs of Rome are ancient catacombs, underground burial places under Rome, Italy, of which there are at least forty, some discovered only in recent decades. The Etruscans, like many other European peoples, used to bury their dead in underground chambers, the original Roman custom was cremation, after which the burnt remains were kept in a pot, ash-chest or urn, often in a columbarium. From about the 2nd century AD, inhumation became more fashionable, in graves or sarcophagi, often elaborately carved, Christians also preferred burial to cremation because of their belief in bodily resurrection at the Second Coming. The Jewish catacombs are similarly important for the study of Jewish culture at this period, a number of dubious relics of catacomb saints were promoted after the rediscovery of the catacombs. The Etruscans, like many other European people, used to bury their dead in underground chambers, the original Roman custom was cremation, after which the burnt remains were kept in a pot, ash-chest or urn, often in a columbarium. From about the 2nd century AD, inhumation became more fashionable, in graves or sarcophagi, often elaborately carved, Christians also preferred burial to cremation because of their belief in bodily resurrection. The first large-scale catacombs in the vicinity of Rome were excavated from the 2nd century onwards and they were carved through tufo, a soft volcanic rock, outside the walls of the city, because Roman law forbade burial places within city limits. The pagan custom was to incinerate corpses, while early Christians, since most Christians and Jews at that time belonged to the lower classes or were slaves, they usually lacked the resources to buy land for burial purposes. Instead, networks of tunnels were dug in the layers of tufo which occurred naturally on the outskirts of Rome. There are sixty known subterranean burial chambers in Rome and they were built outside the walls along main Roman roads, like the Via Appia, the Via Ostiense, the Via Labicana, the Via Tiburtina, and the Via Nomentana. Names of the catacombs – like St Calixtus and St Sebastian, about 80% of the excavations used for Christian burials date to after the time of the persecutions. Excavators, no slaves, built vast systems of galleries and passages on top of each other. They lie 7–19 metres below the surface in an area of more than 2.4 square kilometres, narrow steps that descend as many as four stories join the levels. Passages are about 2.5 by 1 metre, burial niches were carved into walls. They are 40–60 centimetres high and 120–150 centimetres long, bodies were placed in chambers in stone sarcophagi in their clothes and bound in linen. Then the chamber was sealed with a slab bearing the name, age, the catacomb of Saint Agnes is a small church. Some families were able to construct cubicula which would house various loculi, another excellent place for artistic programs were the arcosolia. In 380, Christianity became a state religion, at first, many still desired to be buried in chambers alongside the martyrs
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Santa Croce in Gerusalemme
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The Basilica of the Holy Cross in Jerusalem or Basilica di Santa Croce in Gerusalemme, is a Roman Catholic minor basilica and titular church in rione Esquilino, Rome, Italy. It is one of the Seven Pilgrim Churches of Rome, the current Cardinal Priest of the Titulus S. Crucis in Hierusalem is Miloslav Vlk. Some decades later, the chapel was converted into a basilica, after falling into neglect, the Pope Lucius II restored the Basilica. It assumed a Romanesque appearance, with a nave, two aisles, belfry, and porch. The Basilica was also modified in the 16th century, but it assumed its current Baroque appearance under Pope Benedict XIV, new streets were also opened to connect the Basilica to two other Roman major basilicas, namely, San Giovanni in Laterano and Santa Maria Maggiore. The façade of the Basilica, which was designed by Pietro Passalacqua and Domenico Gregorini, according to a Vatican spokesman, an inquiry found evidence of liturgical and financial irregularities as well as lifestyles that were probably not in keeping with that of a monk. The relics were once in the ancient St. Helenas Chapel, here the founder of the Basilica had some soil from Calvary dispersed. In the vault is a designed by Melozzo da Forlì before 1485 depicting Jesus Blessing, Histories of the Cross. The altar has a statue of St. Helena, which was obtained from an ancient statue of the pagan goddess Juno discovered at Ostia. The apse of the Basilica includes frescoes telling the Legends of the True Cross, attributed to Melozzo, Antoniazzo Romano, and Marco Palmezzano. The Museum of the Basilica houses an icon from the 14th century which, according to the legend. Notable also is the tomb of Cardinal Francisco de los Ángeles Quiñones sculpted by Jacopo Sansovino in 1536. Peter Paul Rubens, who had arrived in Rome by way of Mantua in 1601, was commissioned by Archduke Albert of Austria to paint an altarpiece with three panels for the Chapel of St. Helena. Two of these paintings, St. Helena with the True Cross and The Mocking of Christ, are now in Grasse, the third, The Elevation of the Cross, was lost. Before his marriage, the Archduke had been made a cardinal in the Basilica, raimondo Besozzi, La storia della Basilica di Santa Croce in Gerusalemme. Marie-Théodore de Busierre, Les sept basiliques de Rome Tome second, claudio Rendina, La Grande Enciclopedia di Roma Belkin, Kristin Lohse. Official Site Description in the site of the Soprintendenza Speciale per il Colosseo, il MNR e lArea archeologica di Roma
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Santa Maria degli Angeli e dei Martiri
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The Basilica of St. Mary of the Angels and the Martyrs is a titular basilica church in Rome, Italy built inside the frigidarium of the Baths of Diocletian in the Piazza della Repubblica. The most recent Cardinal priest of the Titulus S. Mariae Angelorum in Thermis is William Henry Keeler, the basilica is dedicated to the Christian martyrs, known and unknown. By a brief dated 27 July 1561, Pius IV ordered the church built, a story that these Martyrs were Christian slave labourers who had been set to constructing the Baths is modern. It was also a monument of Pope Pius IV, whose tomb is in the apsidal tribune that culminates the series of spaces. The thermae of Diocletian dominated the Quirinal Hill with their mass and had successfully resisted Christianization. Michelangelo Buonarroti worked from 1563 to 1564 to adapt a section of the structure of the baths to enclose a church. Some later construction directed by Luigi Vanvitelli in 1749 only superficially distracts from the grand, at Santa Maria degli Angeli, Michelangelo achieved an unexampled sequence of shaped architectural spaces with few precedents or followers. There is no true facade, the entrance is set within one of the coved apses of a main space of the thermae. The plan is developed from a Greek cross, with a transept so dominant, with its chapels at each end. Of the Saint Bruno, Pope Clement XIV said that he would speak, were it not for the vow of silence of the order he founded, raising the floor truncated the red granite Roman columns that articulate the transept and its flanking spaces. Michelangelo made the transept 27 meters wide, thus providing vast cubical spaces at each end of the transept, in 2006, Polish-born sculptor Igor Mitoraj created new bronze doors as well as a statue of John the Baptist for the basilica. In April 2010, a five metre high statue of Galileo Galilei Divine Man was unveiled in a courtyard within the complex. The statue was a donation from CCAST and WFS, Santa Maria degli Angeli was the official state church during the Kingdom of Italy. More recently, national burials have been held in the church, the church hosts the tombs of General Armando Diaz and Admiral Paolo Thaon di Revel, who were the commanders responsible for winning World War I on the Italian front. Also today the Basilica is used for ceremonies, included the funeral of soldiers killed abroad. Alan Cook remarked, The disposition, the stability and the precision are much better than those of the famous meridian. in Bologna, bianchinis sundial was built along the meridian that crosses Rome, at longitude 12°30 E. At solar noon, which according to the equation of time from around 10,54 a. m. UTC in late October to 11.24 a. m, UTC in February, the sun shines through a small hole in the wall to cast its light on this line each day
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Santa Maria in Cosmedin
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The Basilica of Saint Mary in Cosmedin is a minor basilica church in Rome, Italy. It is located in the rione of Ripa, a deaconry was a place where charitable distributions were given to the poor, and it is appropriate that such an institution would have been built near or at a station of the Roman annona. Since it was located near many Byzantine structures, in 7th century this church was called de Schola Graeca, and a close street is still called della Greca. Greek monks escaping iconoclastic persecutions decorated the church around 782, when pope Adrian I promoted its reconstruction, because of its beauty, the church received the adjective cosmedin, ornate. Santa Maria in Cosmedin was the church of Popes Gelasius II and Celestine III. Among the former titular cardinal deacons of the church was Reginald Pole, the inscriptions found in S. Maria in Cosmedin, a valuable source illustrating the history of the Basilica, have been collected and published by Vincenzo Forcella. A substantial restoration was accomplished in 1118–1124 under Alfanus, camerarius of Pope Callixtus II, after being acquired by Benedictines and a period of decay, in 1718 the church was refurbished in the Baroque style, particularly by a new façade, by Giuseppe Sardi. The Baroque additions, however, were removed in the restoration of 1894–1899, in the portico of the church, on the north side, can be found La Bocca della Verità, an ancient sculpture thought to be a drain covering. A legend states that, if a person places his hand inside the mouth and then swears falsely, there is no attested case of such an event taking place. The churchs bell tower is the tallest medieval belfry in Rome, the current interior of S. Maria in Cosmedin has a nave with two aisles, these are divided by four pilasters and eighteen ancient columns. Built into the walls, some of the old columns of the Statio Annonae are visible. Other fragments of the ancient building can be seen in the crypt, paintings from the 8th-12th centuries, in three layers, are preserved in the upper part of the nave and in the triumphal arch. The church has a very fine Cosmatesque pavement, the schola cantorum is from the 13th century, while the main altar is a red granite piece from 1123. The Easter candelabrum is also from the 13th century, the sacristy houses a precious 8th-century mosaic fragment brought here from the Old St. Peters Basilica. Of the 18th-century restoration, the Crucifix Chapel and the Baptistry can be seen today, in a side altar on the left of the church is kept the flower crowned skull attributed to St Valentine. A scene from the 1953 romantic comedy movie Roman Holiday was filmed in Santa Maria in Cosmedin, in the scene, Joe played by Gregory Peck shocks the Anya/Princess Ann played by Audrey Hepburn by pretending to lose his hand in the Bocca della Verità. Giovanni Mario Crescimbeni, Stato della basilica diaconale, collegiate, e parrocchiale di S. Maria in Cosmedin di Roma, giovenale, La Basilica di S. Maria in Cosmedin. Richard Krautheimer, Corpus basilicarum christianarum Romae, the early Christian basilicas of Rome
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Santa Maria in Trastevere
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The Basilica of Santa Maria in Trastevere, English, Our Lady in Trastevere) is a titular minor basilica in the Trastevere district of Rome, and one of the oldest churches of Rome. The basic floor plan and wall structure of the date back to the 340s. The first sanctuary was built in 221 and 227 by Pope Callixtus I, the church has large areas of important mosaics from the late 13th century by Pietro Cavallini. It is certainly one of the oldest churches in the city, a Christian house-church was founded here about 220 by Pope Saint Callixtus I on the site of the Taberna meritoria, a refuge for retired soldiers. In 340, when Pope Julius I rebuilt the titulus Callixti on a scale, it became the titulus Iulii in commemoration of his patronage. The church underwent two restorations in the fifth and eighth centuries and in 1140-43 it was re-erected on its old foundations under Pope Innocent II, Innocent II razed the church along with the recently completed tomb of the Antipope Anacletus II, his former rival. Innocent II arranged for his own burial on the formerly occupied by the tomb. The richly carved Ionic capitals reused along its nave were taken either from the ruins of the Baths of Caracalla or the nearby Temple of Isis on the Janiculum. When scholarship during the 19th century identified the faces in their carved decoration as Isis, Serapis and Harpocrates, the inscriptions found in Santa Maria in Trastevere, a valuable resource illustrating the history of the Basilica, were collected and published by Vincenzo Forcella. The present nave preserves its original plan and stands on the earlier foundations. The 22 granite columns with Ionic and Corinthian capitals that separate the nave from the aisles came from the ruins of the Baths of Caracalla, as did the lintel of the entrance door. Inside the church are a number of late 13th-century mosaics by Pietro Cavallini on the subject of the Life of the Virgin centering on a Coronation of the Virgin in the apse, domenichinos octagonal ceiling painting, Assumption of the Virgin fits in the coffered ceiling setting that he designed. The fifth chapel to the left is the Avila Chapel designed by Antonio Gherardi and this, and his Chapel of S. Cecilia in San Carlo ai Catinari are two of the most architecturally inventive chapels of the late-17th century in Rome. The lower order of the chapel is fairly dark and employs Borromini-like forms, in the dome, there is an opening or oculus from which four putti emerge to carry a central tempietto, all of which frames a light-filled chamber above, illuminated by windows not visible from below. The church keeps a relic of Saint Apollonia, her head, among those buried in the church are the relics of Pope Callixtus I, Pope Innocent II, Antipope Anacletus II, Cardinal Philippe of Alençon and Cardinal Lorenzo Campeggio. The Romanesque campanile is from the 12th century, near the top, a niche protects a mosaic of the Madonna and Child. The mosaics on the façade are believed to be from the 12th century and they depict the Madonna enthroned and suckling the Child, flanked by 10 women holding lamps. This image on the façade showing Mary nursing Jesus is an example of a popular late-medieval
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Santa Prassede
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The Basilica of Saint Praxedes, commonly known in Italian as Santa Prassede, is an ancient titular church and minor basilica in Rome, Italy, located near the papal basilica of Saint Mary Major. The current Cardinal Priest of Titulus Sancta Praxedis is Paul Poupard, peters first Christian convert in Rome. The two female saints were murdered for providing Christian burial for early martyrs in defiance of Roman law, the basilica was enlarged and decorated by Pope Paschal I in c. Pope Paschal, who reigned 817-824, was at the forefront of the Carolingian Renaissance started and advocated by the emperor Charlemagne and they desired to get back to the foundations of Christianity theologically and artistically. Paschal, thus, began two, linked, ambitious programs, the recovery of martyrs bones from the catacombs of Rome, Paschal dug up numerous skeletons and transplanted them to this church. The Titulus S. Praxedis was established by Pope Evaristus, around 112, the inscriptions found in Santa Prassede, a valuable source illustrating the history of the church, have been collected and published by Vincenzo Forcella. The church provided the inspiration for Robert Brownings poem The Bishop Orders His Tomb at Saint Praxeds Church, the main altarpiece is a canvas of St Praxedes Gathering the Blood of the Martyrs by Domenico Muratori. The most famous element of the church is the mosaic decorative program, Paschal hired a team of professional mosaicists to complete the work in the apse, the apsidal arch, and the triumphal arch. In the apse, Jesus is in the center, flanked by Sts, peter and Paul who present Prassede and Pudenziana to God. On the far left is Paschal, with the halo of the living, presenting a model of the church as an offering to Jesus. Below runs an inscription of Paschals, hoping that this offering will be sufficient to secure his place in heaven, on the apsidal arch are twelve men on each side, holding wreaths of victory, welcoming the souls into heaven. Those mosaics, as well as those in the Chapel of Saint Zeno, ascending a spiral staircase, one enters a small room, covered in scaffolding, on the wall is a fresco cycle, dating most likely from the 8th century. The frescoes probably depict the life-cycle of the saint of the church. Santa Prassede also houses an alleged segment of the pillar upon which Jesus was flogged and tortured before his crucifixion in Jerusalem, among these legendary relics retrieved by Helena, which included pieces of the True Cross and wood from the Jesus crib enshrined at S. Maria Maggiore. Among known titulars of this see are Lambertus Scannabecchi, Ubaldo Allucingoli, Alain de Coëtivy, Giovanni Maria Ciocchi del Monte, Saint Charles Borromeo, B. M. Apollonj Ghetti, Santa Prassede. Gillian Vallance Mackie, The Iconographic Programme of the Zeno Chapel at Santa Prassede, Rome. Mauck, “The Mosaic of the Triumphal Arch of Santa Prassede, A Liturgical Interpretation. ”Rotraut Wisskirchen, Mosaikprogramm von Santa Prassede in Rom. Anna Maria Affanni, La chiesa di Santa Prassede, la storia, il rilievo, il restauro. Mary M. Schaefer, Women in Pastoral Office, The Story of Santa Prassede, maurizio Caperna, La basilica di Santa Prassede, il significato della vicenda architettonica
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Santa Sabina
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The Basilica of Saint Sabina is a historical church on the Aventine Hill in Rome, Italy. It is a minor basilica and mother church of the Roman Catholic Order of Preachers. Santa Sabina is perched high above the Tiber river to the north and it is next to small public park Giardino degli Aranci, which has a scenic terrace overlooking Rome. It is a distance to the headquarters of the Knights of Malta. Santa Sabina is the oldest extant Roman basilica in Rome that preserves its original colonnaded rectangular plan and its decorations have been restored to their original restrained design. Other basilicas, such as Santa Maria Maggiore, are heavily and gaudily decorated. Because of its simplicity, the Santa Sabina represents the crossover from a roofed Roman forum to the churches of Christendom and its Cardinal Priest is Jozef Tomko. It is the church for Ash Wednesday. Santa Sabina was built by Peter of Illyria, a Dalmatian priest, the church was built on the site of early Imperial houses, one of which is said to be of Sabina, a Roman matron originally from Avezzano in the Abruzzo region of Italy. Sabina was beheaded under the Emperor Vespasian, or perhaps Hadrian, because she had converted to Christianity by her servant Seraphia. She was later declared a Christian Saint, in the 9th century, it was enclosed in a fortification area. The interior was renovated by Domenico Fontana in 1587 and by Francesco Borromini in 1643. Italian architect and art historian Antonio Muñoz restored the medieval appearance of the church. The bell tower was built in the 10th century and remade in the Baroque period, the church was the seat of a conclave in 1287, although the prelates left the church after a plague had killed six of them. They returned in the only on 1288 February, electing Nicholas IV as pope. The exterior of the church, with its large windows made of selenite, not glass, the wooden door of the basilica is generally agreed to be the original door from 430–32, although it was apparently not constructed for this doorway. Eighteen of its wooden panels survive — all but one depicting scenes from the Bible, above the doorway, the interior preserves an original dedication in Latin hexameters. The campanile dates from the 10th century, the original fifth-century apse mosaic was replaced in 1559 by a very similar fresco by Taddeo Zuccari
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Basilica of Santa Maria del Popolo
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The Basilica of Santa Maria del Popolo is an Augustinian church in Rome, Italy. It stands on the side of Piazza del Popolo, one of the most famous squares in the city. The church is hemmed in between Porta del Popolo and the Pincian Hill, Porta Flaminia was one of the gates in the Aurelian Wall as well as the starting point of Via Flaminia, the most important route from the north. The church contains works by famous artists, such as Raphael, Gian Lorenzo Bernini, Caravaggio, Alessandro Algardi, Pinturicchio, Andrea Bregno, Guillaume de Marcillat. In 1099, a chapel was built by Pope Paschal II to Our Lady over the tomb of the Domitii Ahenobarbi. Tradition has it that the site was haunted by Neros ghost or demons in the form of crows, therefore the pope chopped down the walnut tree sheltering the crows. The name del Popolo probably derives from its funding by the people of Rome, the chapel was enlarged and became a church by will of Pope Gregory IX in 1235, and was given to the Augustinian friars, who still oversee it, in 1250. Santa Maria del Popolo was reconstructed by Baccio Pontelli and Andrea Bregno in 1472-1477 on the orders of Pope Sixtus IV and was given to the congregation of Lombard friars in Rome, the result of the reconstruction was an early and excellent example of Italian Renaissance architecture. In 1655-60 the façade was modified by Gian Lorenzo Bernini, who was asked by Pope Alexander VII to update the Renaissance church to a more modern Baroque style. Façade The façade was built in early Renaissance style in the 1470s when the church was rebuilt by Pope Sixtus IV. The alterations included the addition of gables at the sides on the level, pediments above the side entrances. The architecture is attributed to Andrea Bregno but without definitive evidence. According to Ulrich Fürst the architect aimed at perfect proportioning and also at masterful restraint in the detail, in this way he succeeded in designing the best church façade in early-Renaissance Rome. The façade was built of bright Roman travertine, and it is two storeys high, the three entrances are accessed by a flight of stairs giving a feel of monumentality. The architecture is simple and dignified with four pilasters on the lower level. The side doors are surmounted by pediments and their lintels have dedicatory inscriptions referring to Pope Sixtus IV. There is a pair of arched windows above them. Bernini added the two halves of a segmental pediment on the sides of the upper level, and the curved connecting element with the rich garlands
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San Pietro in Vincoli
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For other churches of this dedication, see St Peter ad Vincula. San Pietro in Vincoli is a Roman Catholic titular church and minor basilica in Rome, Italy, best known for being the home of Michelangelos statue of Moses, the Titulus S. Petri ad vincula was assigned on 20 November 2010, to Donald Wuerl. The previous Cardinal Priest of the basilica was Pío Laghi, who died on 11 January 2009, next to the church is hosted the Faculty of Engineering of La Sapienza University, in the former convent building. This is named San Pietro in Vincoli per antonomasia, the church is located on the Oppian Hill near Cavour metro station, a short distance from the Colosseum. The Empress Eudoxia, who received them as a gift from her mother, Aelia Eudocia, consort of Valentinian II, Aelia Eudocia had received these chains as a gift from Iuvenalis, bishop of Jerusalem. According to legend, when Leo compared them to the chains of St. Peters final imprisonment in the Mamertine Prison, in Rome, the chains are now kept in a reliquary under the main altar in the basilica. The basilica, consecrated in 439 by Sixtus III, has undergone restorations, among them a restoration by Pope Adrian I. From 1471 to 1503, in which year he was elected Pope Julius II, Cardinal Della Rovere, the front portico, attributed to Baccio Pontelli, was added in 1475. The cloister has been attributed to Giuliano da Sangallo, further work was done at the beginning of the 18th century, under Francesco Fontana, and there was also a renovation in 1875. The interior has a nave and two aisles, with three divided by antique Doric columns. The aisles are surmounted by cross-vaults, while the nave has an 18th-century coffered ceiling, frescoed in the center by Giovanni Battista Parodi, in this scene, Pope Alexander heals the neck goiter of Saint Balbina by touching her with the chains that once bound St Peter. Moses is depicted with horns, connoting the radiance of the Lord, due to the similarity in the Hebrew words for beams of light and this kind of iconographic symbolism was common in early sacred art, and for an artist horns are easier to sculpt than rays of light. The altarpiece on the first chapel to the left is a Deposition by Cristoforo Roncalli, the tomb of Cardinal Nicholas of Kues, with its relief, Cardinal Nicholas before St Peter, is by Andrea Bregno. Painter and sculptor Antonio Pollaiuolo is buried at the side of the entrance. He is the Florentine sculptor who added the figures of Romulus and Remus to the sculpture of the Capitoline Wolf on the Capitol, the tomb of Cardinal Cinzio Passeri Aldobrandini, decorated with an allegorical skeletal representation of Death, is also in the church. In 1876 archeologists discovered the tombs of those believed to be the seven Maccabean martyrs depicted in 2 Maccabees 7–41. It is highly unlikely that these are in fact the Jewish martyrs that had offered their lives in Jerusalem and they are remembered each year on 1 August, the same day as the miracle of the fusing of the two chains. The third altar in the left holds a mosaic of Saint Sebastian from the seventh century
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Ancient Roman architecture
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Ancient Roman architecture adopted the external language of classical Greek architecture for the purposes of the ancient Romans, but differed from Greek buildings, becoming a new architectural style. The two styles are considered one body of classical architecture. Roman architecture flourished in the Roman Republic and even more so under the Empire and it used new materials, particularly concrete, and newer technologies such as the arch and the dome to make buildings that were typically strong and well-engineered. Large numbers remain in some form across the empire, sometimes complete, Roman Architecture covers the period from the establishment of the Roman Republic in 509 BC to about the 4th century AD, after which it becomes reclassified as Late Antique or Byzantine architecture. Almost no substantial examples survive from before about 100 BC, and most of the major survivals are from the later empire, after about 100 AD. They moved from trabeated construction mostly based on columns and lintels to one based on walls, punctuated by arches. The classical orders now became largely decorative rather than structural, except in colonnades, however, they did not feel entirely restricted by Greek aesthetic concerns, and treated the orders with considerable freedom. Innovation started in the 3rd or 2nd century BC with the development of Roman concrete as a readily available adjunct to, or substitute for, stone, more daring buildings soon followed, with great pillars supporting broad arches and domes. The freedom of concrete also inspired the colonnade screen, a row of decorative columns in front of a load-bearing wall. In smaller-scale architecture, concretes strength freed the floor plan from rectangular cells to a more free-flowing environment, factors such as wealth and high population densities in cities forced the ancient Romans to discover new architectural solutions of their own. The use of vaults and arches, together with a knowledge of building materials. Examples include the aqueducts of Rome, the Baths of Diocletian and the Baths of Caracalla and these were reproduced at a smaller scale in most important towns and cities in the Empire. Some surviving structures are almost complete, such as the walls of Lugo in Hispania Tarraconensis. The administrative structure and wealth of the empire made possible very large even in locations remote from the main centres, as did the use of slave labour. Especially under the empire, architecture often served a function, demonstrating the power of the Roman state in general. The influence is evident in many ways, for example, in the introduction and use of the Triclinium in Roman villas as a place, Roman builders employed Greeks in many capacities, especially in the great boom in construction in the early Empire. The Roman Architectural Revolution, also known as the Concrete Revolution, was the use in Roman architecture of the previously little-used architectural forms of the arch, vault. For the first time in history, their potential was fully exploited in the construction of a range of civil engineering structures, public buildings
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Roman art
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Roman art refers to the visual arts made in Ancient Rome and in the territories of the Roman Empire. Roman art includes architecture, painting, sculpture and mosaic work, sculpture was perhaps considered as the highest form of art by Romans, but figure painting was also very highly regarded. Roman coins were an important means of propaganda, and have survived in enormous numbers, other perishable forms of art have not survived at all. Stylistic eclecticism and practical application are the hallmarks of much Roman art, though very little remains of Greek wall art and portraiture, certainly Greek sculpture and vase painting bears this out. These forms were not likely surpassed by Roman artists in fineness of design or execution. As another example of the lost Golden Age, he singled out Peiraikos, whose artistry is surpassed by only a very few. ”The adjective vulgar is used here in its original meaning, the Greek antecedents of Roman art were legendary. In the mid-5th century BC, the most famous Greek artists were Polygnotos, noted for his murals, and Apollodoros. In sculpture, Skopas, Praxiteles, Phidias, and Lysippos were the foremost sculptors, Ancient Greek treatises on the arts are known to have existed in Roman times though are now lost. Many Roman artists came from Greek colonies and provinces, the high number of Roman copies of Greek art also speaks of the esteem Roman artists had for Greek art, and perhaps of its rarer and higher quality. One exception is the Roman bust, which did not include the shoulders, the traditional head-and-shoulders bust may have been an Etruscan or early Roman form. Where Greek artists were highly revered in their society, most Roman artists were anonymous, there is no recording, as in Ancient Greece, of the great masters of Roman art, and practically no signed works. Roman culture assimilated many cultures and was for the most part tolerant of the ways of conquered peoples, Roman art was commissioned, displayed, and owned in far greater quantities, and adapted to more uses than in Greek times. Wealthy Romans were more materialistic, they decorated their walls with art, their home with decorative objects, when Constantine moved the capital of the empire to Byzantium, Roman art incorporated Eastern influences to produce the Byzantine style of the late empire. When Rome was sacked in the 5th century, artisans moved to, of the vast body of Roman painting we now have only a very few pockets of survivals, with many documented types not surviving at all, or doing so only from the very end of the period. A succession of dated styles have been defined and analysed by modern art historians beginning with August Mau, there are a number of other parts of painted rooms surviving from Rome and elsewhere, which somewhat help to fill in the gaps of our knowledge of wall-painting. Nothing remains of the Greek paintings imported to Rome during the 4th and 5th centuries, in sum, the range of samples is confined to only about 200 years out of the about 900 years of Roman history, and of provincial and decorative painting. Most of this painting was done using the secco method. There is evidence from mosaics and a few inscriptions that some Roman paintings were adaptations or copies of earlier Greek works
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