Thursday, October 05, 2006

San Bernardo alle Terme

S Bernardo alle Terme church in Rome

This image from San Bernardo alle Terme is part of one of the panoramic images found on the PanoramicEarth.com Tour of Rome. There are over 100 images taken from around Rome linked to an interactive map.

Full 360° panorama of the church of S Bernardo alle Terme

The church of S Bernardo alle Terme is quite small and tucked away opposite S Maria della Concezione on the Via XX Septembre. The outside is painted a pastel pink colour. The church is circular in design, set into one of the circular halls that stood at the corners of the Diocletian Baths that may have been a temple. Unfortunately the area in front of the church has been converted into a very crowded and unattractive parking lot. Diagonally across the street is S Maria della Vittoria.

Built in 1598 it was given to a French Cistercian group called the Feuillants. San Bernardo alle Terme is similar in design to the Pantheon, being cylindrical with a dome and an oculus some 22m across. The dome decoration is made of octagonal coffers. The main focus of the interior are eight statues of saints housed in niches of the walls by Camillo Mariani. There are also two side altars dedicated to St Bernard and St Robert of Molesmes, co-founders of the Cistercian Order.

The German painter Johann Friedrich Overbeck who founded the Nazarene art movement, is interred here and off to one side is the Chapel of St Francis that was added to the ancient rotunda.

The image here is part of a panoramic showing the main altar flanked by the two side altars with 4 of the eight statues set into niches. The full panoramic image shown on the Rome tour by PanoramicEarth.com. There is a larger version of this image of S. Barnardo alle terme on Flickr.

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