Jubilee 2025: The Jubilee Churches of Rome
The main Roman Jubilee churches remain the Major Papal Basilicas, which also have the importance of hosting the Holy Doors, but there are many Jubilee churches in Rome which have been a meeting point for Holy Year pilgrims for centuries. Some of these churches are still little known to most people, or outside the classic tourist itineraries, but they are places of certain interest, also for the religious aspects they represent, especially for the faithful and pilgrims of the Jubilee. We therefore dedicate this article to presenting some of the most important Roman Jubilee churches, offering an alternative Jubilee itinerary.
The Sanctuary of Divine Love
The least known first Jubilee church, especially because it is located outside the city beyond the Aurelian Walls about ten kilometers from the “Domine Quo Vadis” church, is the Sanctuary of Divine Love. The Sanctuary of Divine Love is located outside the eternal city along the Ardeatina road, immersed in the Roman countryside and along the edge of the Appia Antica Park. This sanctuary is under the protection of the Madonna, who according to legend rescued a pilgrim lost in these countryside in 1740. There is no shortage of other testimonies of faith regarding the apparitions of the Madonna, such as those made by Roman citizens during the horrors of the Second World War.
The Sanctuary of Divine Love was enlarged at the behest of John Paul II, who consecrated it shortly before the Holy Year of 2000. The Sanctuary of Divine Love also houses a Byzantine icon which represents the link between air and the holy spirit, and is one of the stops on the tour of the 7 churches which we will talk about in the routes dedicated to the Jubilee. More recently, the sanctuary has served as a film set for several arthouse films, especially those connected to the great Italian cinema of the 1950s and 1960s.
Aventine Hill, towards the Church of Santa Prisca
Returning within the walls of the eternal city and climbing one of its seven hills, the Aventine, we will discover the Church of Santa Prisca in a quiet and little-traffic area, surrounded by greenery. The Church of Santa Prisca can be reached by walking along the quiet streets of the Aventine until passing the square of the Temple of Diana.
The first nucleus of the Church of Santa Prisca probably dates back to the 1st century AD, when it was built on the remains of the house of the martyr Prisca, killed during the reign of Emperor Claudius. It was then rebuilt around the mid-1400s by Pope Callistus III. The most evocative element is found under its naves, where the original structures of the building of worship are still preserved, such as the house from the 1st century AD. or even environments adapted to the cult of the god Mithras (a divinity we have already spoken about in relation to the Mithraeum of Ostia), depicted in the frescoes that tell of his deeds and history.
The Aventine Hill also offers other places to visit such as the churches of Santa Sabina, San Alessio and Sant’Anselmo, the panoramic terrace of the Savello Park, and the keyhole in the door of the Embassy of the Priory of the Order of Malta.
The Churches of Santa Maria in Monserrato degli Spagnoli and San Paolo alla Regola
We leave the Aventine to move towards the center of the city. in what was the “Renaissance district”, between the streets of Banco di Santo Spirito, Via dei Banchi Nuovi, Piazza Navona, Piazza Farnese and Campo de’ Fiori.
The Church of San Paolo alla Regola is also a structure built around the first Roman home of the saint, who after years of evangelization of the Latins was killed by order of the emperor Nero, around 64 AD. However, the construction of the place of worship officially dates back to 1186. The Church of San Paolo alla Regola also in this case was completely rebuilt at the end of the 17th century during the period of maximum splendor of the reign of the Pope-King, the same fate that affected a good part of the Roman churches, often altering their original or medieval structure.
Not far from the Church of San Paolo alla Regola it is also possible to visit the Church of Santa Maria in Monserrato degli Spagnoli, whose foundation is decidedly more recent than that connected to San Paolo alla Regola. The Church of Santa Maria in Monserrato degli Spagnoli was begun on a project by Antonio da Sangallo the Younger in 1518, was completed between 1673 and 1675, and was the church connected to the community of the Aragonese and Catalans, while today it is the national church of the Spaniards in Rome. An interesting testimony of how Rome was once divided not only into districts and neighborhoods, but also into many areas connected to different cultures, such as Catalans, Castilians, etc.
In Umbertine Rome, the “New Church” of Santa Maria in Vallicella
Leaving the area of Campo de’ Fiori, Piazza Farnese and above all the Via del Banco di Santo Spirito and Via dei Banchi Nuovi we find the “modern” part of the city, the “Umbertina” one. We are talking about Corso Vittorio Emanuele II, the road that connects Piazza Venezia with the Vatican characterized by buildings in Art Nouveau and neo-baroque style that mark Rome in the period of the belle epoque of the nineteenth-century bourgeoisie, but also the residences of the ancient papal nobility.
Other Jubilee churches in central Rome
Leaving the Chiesa Nuova or Santa Maria in Vallicella it is possible to find many churches that follow one another in this space between the Campo dei Fiori area, Piazza Navona and the Vatican. In the area between Via dei Banchi Nuovi and Via dei Banchi Vecchi there is the greatest concentration of Jubilee churches, such as those of: Santa Maria dell’Orazione e Morte, Santa Caterina da Siena, Santo Spirito dei Napoletani, Santa Maria del Suffragio, San Giovanni Battista dei Fiorentini, and the Church of San Salvatore in Lauro.
