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Paradoxplace Lazio and Central Italy Galleries
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Located just behind the Pantheon, the Dominican run Santa Maria Sopra Minerva is known as Rome's only gothic church. Santa Caterina di Siena died here and is under the altar (senza head), the Sangallo designed tombs of the two Medici cousins who were Popes - Leo X and Clement VII - are the large marble structures (see below) which face each other across the apse, whilst the beautiful Michelangelo statue of Jesus and the cross, and the tomb of Fra Angelico (both shown further below) lie just to the north. What you can see in the photo above is in fact only the east half of the nave! |
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| Leo X | Clement VII | |
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The tomb of Fra (Beato) Angelico | |
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If you leave the church by the east door near Fra Angelico's tomb you are only a very short walk away from an excellent Tuscan lunch experience at Il Buco |
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Bernini's elephant stands in front of the plain facade of Santa Maria di Minerva. The statue (detail below) dates from 1667 and supports a much older Egyprian obelisk found in the ruins of the Roman Temple of Isis which was nearby. It was in the Dominican Convent attached to the church that Galileo's trial by the Inquisition took place.
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Looking north, the building in the background below is the Pantheon.
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All original material on this site © Adrian Fletcher 2000-2013 - The contents may not be hotlinked, or reproduced without permission |
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