Chiesa di San Vincenzo

The Church of San Vincenzo Martire stands on a small square in Tivoli. Founded by the Sebastiani family in the thirteenth century, the building has served as a church and, for a time, as the Teatro Città di Tivoli. It reopened for worship in 2022 after restoration.

Why it matters

San Vincenzo preserves traditions associated with the martyrs Vincent and Sinforosa. Local accounts place a cistern beneath the church where Sinforosa and her children were believed to have taken refuge during persecution. The story is recorded in the martyrology of Cardinal Cesare Baronio, while the extent of any surviving underground structure is uncertain.

What to notice

The façade is set along a side wall of the small square rather than facing directly onto it. A white marble portal and a rose window mark the exterior. Inside, nineteenth-century paintings include the Virgin with Saints Vincent and Vincent the Martyr above the main altar and a scene of the martyrdom of Saint Sinforosa. A fourteenth-century fresco of Christ between two angels survives in the lunette above a rear entrance.

Context and history

The church was founded by the Sebastiani family in the thirteenth century; local accounts give different years for its construction. It was rebuilt in 1860, and the underground grotto was closed. The building later served as the town theatre before its roof collapsed in the 1980s. Restoration work begun in 2019 repaired the roof and walls and recovered a partly concealed altarpiece. The church reopened for worship on 20 May 2022.