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Santa Maria degli Angeli Review

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Santa Maria degli Angeli

Address: Via Cernaia 9, Repubblica, Rome | Map It
Phone: 064880812
www.santamariadegliangeliroma.it

Category: Religious Sites
Location: Repubblica and Quirinale

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Fodor's Review:

The curving brick facade on the northeast side of Piazza della Repubblica is one small remaining part of the colossal Terme di Diocleziano, erected about AD 300 and the largest and most impressive of the baths of ancient Rome. The baths extended over what is now Piazza della Repubblica and covered much of the area. In 1561 Michelangelo was commissioned to convert the vast tepidarium, the central hall of the baths, into a church. His work was altered by Vanvitelli in the 18th century, but the huge transept, which formed the nave in Michelangelo's plan, has remained as he adapted it. The eight enormous monolithic columns of red granite that support the great beams are the original columns of the tepidarium, 45 feet high and more than 5 feet in diameter. The great hall is 92 feet high. Though the interior of the church is small in comparison with the vast baths Diocletian built here, it gives a better impression of the remarkable grandeur of ancient Rome's most imposing public buildings than any other edifice in the city.

Open: Mon.-Sat. 7-6:30, Sun. 7AM-7:30PM
Metro: Repubblica

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