Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
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06 3996 7700
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Viale delle Terme di Caracalla 52
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adult/reduced €7/4
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9am to 1hr before sunset Tue-Sun, 9am-2pm Mon
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Viale delle Terme di Caracalla
Celio
BASILICA DI SS QUATTRO CORONATI
BASILICA
(Via dei Santissimi Quattro Coronati 20; Basilica 6.15am-8pm Mon-Sat, 6.45am-12.30pm & 3-7.30pm Sun, Cap-
pella di San Silvestro & cloisters 9.30am-noon & 4.30-6pm Mon-Sat, 9-10.40am & 4-6pm Sun; Via Labicana)
This brooding fortified church is best known for its well-preserved 13th-century frescoes.
In the Cappella di San Silvestro, these depict the story of the Donation of Constantine, a
notorious forged document with which the emperor Constantine ceded control of Rome
and the Western Roman Empire to the papacy.
Dating to the 6th century, the basilica took on its present form in the 12th-century after
the original was destroyed by Normans in 1084. Its name - the Basilica of the Four
Crowned Martyrs - is a reference to four Christian sculptors who were killed by the em-
peror Diocletian for refusing to make a statue of a pagan god. Still today it's revered by
stone-cutters and masons.
Also of interest are the beautiful 13th-century cloisters off the northern aisle (ring the
bell for admission).
BASILICA DI SS GIOVANNI E
PAOLO & CASE ROMANE
BASILICA, ROMAN SITE
