San Bonaventura al Palatino
The Church of San Bonaventura al Palatino is a small 17th century church building in Rome built on Via Marco Colidio on the Palatine Hill. It is a Franciscan monastery church built by Francesco Barberini on the request of the Blessed Bonaventura Gran and was completed in 1689.[1]
San Bonaventura al Palatino
History[edit]
The friary was founded in 1625. The church is dedicated to Saint Bonaventure.
At the request of Blessed Bonaventure Gran, the construction was donated by Cardinal Barberini. The land on which the church stands was owned by the Barberini family and had been used for wine growing until then. It was built over an ancient tank of the aqueduct of emperor Claudius (41-54). Construction work began in 1675 and was completed in 1689, but Bonaventura did not live to see it, having died five years earlier. A small convent was annexed and given to the Spanish Discalced Franciscans. It was known as “alla Polveriera” for in the vicinity in the sixteenth century was a gunpowder factory.[2]
Archaeological excavations on the Palatine carried out in the mid-nineteenth century partially demolished the convent, so in the years 1839-40 the opportunity was taken to restore the entire complex, from the convent itself to the facade and inside the church, thanks to funding from Carlo and Alessandro Torlonia.[3]
Architecture[edit]
The present façade dates only from the beginning of the 19th century. Only three niches and a semicircular window give some structure. The two lower niches next to the portal contain the last two stations of a Stations of the Cross leading to the monastery and the church. Above the portal, the niche contains a Baroque statue of Saint Bonaventure.[4] The semicircular window above it, like the entire upper façade above the statue, was only created when the church was vaulted in 1839. The stained glass window inside is a modern work.