The Church of San Lorenzo in Miranda (Chiesa di San Lorenzo in Miranda) is a Roman Catholic church-basilica, which was installed in the former Roman pagan temple of Antoninus and Faustina situated on the Via Sacra in the Roman Forum. The chruch was established most likely during the seventh century CE.
The temple was converted into a Roman Catholic church, the Chiesa di San Lorenzo in Miranda, perhaps as early as the seventh century, but it is only attested from the eleventh century work Mirabilia Urbis Romae. "Miranda" may derive from the name of a benefactress. At that time, it was thought that this was the location of the sentencing of St. Lawrence, Deacon and Martyr to death by the Prefect of Rome, hence its dedication.
circa 650 CE
Christianization accounts for the survival of the cella and portico of the temple through the centuries, though it did not preserve the edifice from all damage. Originally, the podium was faced with white marble slabs, with matching marble mouldings at the top and bottom. Most of the marble facing was scavenged, except for the moulding. The deep grooves in the temple's columns are supposed to date to a medieval attempt to dismantle the pillared portico, either for spolia or to destroy the pagan temple. The grooves also may have been used to attach a makeshift roof over the portico. Also in the Middle Ages, a staircase was built on the side facing the Forum, but it is now impossible to enter from that side because there is a gap of circa 6 metres (20 ft) between the foot of the steps and the bronze door. Before the archeological excavations, the ground level was at this door. Excavations in front of the temple were undertaken in 1546, again in 1810, and at intervals from 1876.
In 1429 or 1430, Pope Martin V gave the church to the Collegio degli Speziali (Guild of Apothecaries), at the time officially denominated the "Universitas Aromatorium". The College still uses its adjoining guildhall, which contains a small museum that holds a receipt for medicine that Raphael signed. Side chapels were erected after this date. The church lacks the usual eastern apse: one was never added so as to retain the temple's structural integrity.
In 1536, the church was partially demolished and the side chapels removed in order to restore the ancient temple for the visit to Rome of Holy Roman Emperor Charles V. The church, now constrained within the cella of the temple, was remodelled in 1602 by Orazio Torriani, creating a single nave and three new side chapels. The main altar has a reredos canvas by Pietro da Cortona of the Martyrdom of St. Lawrence (1646), while the first chapel on the left hosts the Madonna and Child with Saints (1626) by Domenichino.
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The Madain Project is an online archive of Abrahamic History and Archaeology.
Abrahamic History & Archaeology is the study of history and archaeology with respect to the three Abrahamic Faiths without considering the religious and theological aspects. The goal of Abrahamic History is to understand how and why the religious doctrines and behaviours have evlovled and changed over time. Searching for patterns in the evolution of significant cultural events such as the development of farming, the emergence of cities, or the collapse of major civilizations for clues of why and how these have influenced the three major Abrahamic religions.
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