Basilica dei Santi XII Apostoli

The Basilica of the Twelve Holy Apostles is a Franciscan church near Piazza Venezia in Rome. Its history stretches from a sixth-century foundation to Baroque rebuilding, and it preserves the relics of the apostles Philip and James the Less alongside works by leading Roman artists.

Why it matters

The basilica's foundation is traditionally associated with Pope Pelagius I and its completion with Pope John III, as a votive church following the Gothic threat. The relics of Philip and James the Less were brought from the East and rediscovered in 1873. The Franciscans have held the adjoining convent since 1463, linking the church to a long history of religious life in the city.

What to notice

The nave vault carries Baciccio's 1707 fresco of the Triumph of the Order of Saint Francis. Antonio Canova's monument to Pope Clement XIV, completed in 1787, stands in the church, and his stele for engraver Giovanni Volpato is in the portico. The Bessarion Chapel preserves frescoes by Antoniazzo Romano and artists of Melozzo da Forlì's workshop. The relics of the apostles are held in the crypt's Confessione.

Context and history

The medieval church was damaged by an earthquake in the fourteenth century and rebuilt under Pope Martin V, with the portico associated with Baccio Pontelli. From 1702, Carlo and Francesco Fontana led a major rebuilding; Pope Benedict XIII consecrated the church in 1724. Giuseppe Valadier designed the façade completed in 1827. Melozzo da Forlì's apse frescoes were removed during the Baroque reconstruction, and surviving fragments are now divided between the Vatican Museums and the Quirinal Palace.