Chiesa di Sant'Andrea Apostolo

The Church of Sant'Andrea Apostolo in Tivoli was built over the remains of an ancient Roman structure, traditionally identified as the Baths of Diana. Its three naves are divided by ten reused columns of grey granite and cipollino marble, bringing together Roman, medieval and later elements.

Why it matters

The church is documented from the twelfth century and was entrusted to the Camaldolese monks of San Gregorio in Rome. Its reused columns preserve traces of ancient Tibur within a medieval religious building. The church also contains a dated work of late-fifteenth-century painting, an important point of reference for the city's artistic history.

What to notice

The ten columns stand in two rows between the three naves; their varied stones and bases reflect the reuse of earlier material. In a niche in the left aisle, a fresco of the Madonna and Child beneath a canopy includes Saint Sebastian and a kneeling donor. Its inscription is dated 1496. Two fourteenth-century tomb slabs commemorate Angelo Colonna and Giannuzzo Coccanari. The coffered wooden ceiling was carved by Michele Tasca in 1846.

Context and history

Local tradition connects the site to Santa Silvia, the mother of Pope Gregory the Great. The church itself rose over a Roman building, from which some of its columns were likely taken. It once had a Romanesque portico and bell tower; the present interior also reflects later changes, including the nineteenth-century wooden ceiling and organ commissioned in 1846.