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Santa Cecilia in Trastevere Review

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Santa Cecilia in Trastevere

Address: Piazza Santa Cecilia in Trastevere 22, Trastevere, Rome | Map It
Phone: 06/5899289

Category: Religious Sites
Location: Trastevere and the Ghetto

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Fodor's Review:

The aristocratic St. Cecilia, patron saint of music, is commemorated here. One of ancient Rome's most celebrated early Christian martyrs, she was put to a supernaturally long death by the emperor Diocletian around the year AD 300. After an abortive attempt to suffocate her in the baths of her own house (a favorite means of quietly disposing of aristocrats in Roman days), she was brought before the executioner. But not even three blows of the executioner's sword could dispatch the young girl. She lingered for several days, converting others to the Christian cause, before finally dying. Sculpted by Stefano Maderno, a striking white marble statue of the saint languishing in martyrdom, her head half-severed, lies below the main altar. If you time your visit to the church for Tuesday or Thursday morning between 10 and noon, you can enter the cloistered convent to see what remains of Pietro Cavallini's powerful and rich fresco Last Judgment, dating from 1293. It's the only major fresco in existence known to have been painted by Cavallini, a forerunner of Giotto.

Cost: Church free, frescoes EUR 2.50
Open: Daily 9:30-12:30 and 4-6:30; frescoes Mon.-Sat. 10:15-12:15, Sun. 11:15-noon

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