Friday 31 May 2013

Santa Maria Sopra Minerva

The church of Santa Maria Sopra Minerva is remarkable in several respects. It is said to be the only church with a gothic interior in Rome. It is the titular of H.E. Cormac Cardinal Murphy-O'Connor and outside may be seen an Egyptian obelisk carried upon the back of an Elephant! But there is more. Beneath the high altar lies the body of Saint Catherine of Siena, to the left of which may be seen a sculpture of the Risen Christ by Michelangelo and, then, the tomb of the Blessed ""Fra" Angelico. Perhaps I should pay more attention to guide books before my visits but, frankly, I found this quite jaw-dropping.




At the bottom we see another view of the elephant obelisk and, just creeping into view, the back end of the Pantheon.
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1 comment:

  1. Anonymous30 June 2013 at 23:34

    Glad you found it! We always visit and pray at the Shrine of Catherine of Sienna here when in Rome. All those dusty bones, skulls and relics are a bit off putting for the average tourist and that makes it wonderful. Reminds me of St Patricks Armagh before they shamefully cleaned it up.

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