Santa Sabina, Rome. K.Miller

Santa Sabina is located on the site of the Temple of Juno Regina, built at the top of the Aventine Hill overlooking the city of Rome using many of its materials. Dating back to about 425 BC when the building was erected - which was really only about 100 years or so before constantine legalized christianity, stood this building at the same height as the other pagan churches as a breakthrough of the new religion of the roman empire. The church was an expansion of a Roman house-church (titulus) owned by a woman named Sabina. As was common in ancient Rome, the church preserved the name of the title holder by simply adding "Saint" onto her name. The Church of Santa Sabina was founded around 425 AD by the presbyter Peter of Illyria, who recorded his name and good works in a mosaic inscription (which can still be seen). It was completed by about 432. [1]

By looking at the exterior, you can get a sense of how the interior is going to look. The overall design of the building is very simple yet compared to pagan churches it has the ability to room many more visitors and has more room for the focal point. Usually in churches, the focal point follows the longitudinal axis which means the altar would be on the opposite side of the entry, where as the pagans just maintained a sculpture usually in the center and didn’t create space for rituals or visitors to stay.

        Although Santa Sabina consists of a simple design, the architect did put a lot of thought into the design. Taking the lighting effects into consideration for the interior space of this church creates a shimmering effect when the light hits the tiles of the mosaics and this also makes the walls appear to float. The tall nave consists of 24 columns- made up of proconnesian marble with Corinthian columns and bases which were reused from the Temple of Juno. Being that light is a symbol of divinity and christ, the architect designed the church to be lined with a row of clerestory windows as well as five in the facade and three in the apse in order to have a spiritual effect on its visitors.

Looking at the plan and section of this building, I recall the Old St. Peter’s. Except the difference besides scale is that St. Peter’s contained a transcept and Santa Sabina does not. The roof of Old St. Peters also had trusses where as the Santa Sabina has a flat roof with wooden beams. Features that I found astonishing about this building is that there was a fresco discovered that is as old as the building, the narrative door that is dated back to the 5th century as well as the ruins that have been found below the church.

 

The tall, spacious nave has 24 columns of Proconnesian marble with perfectly matched Corinthian columns and bases, which were reused from the Temple of Juno. The spandrels of the closely-spaced arches have inlaid marble designs in green and purple, depicting chalices and patens to represent the Eucharist. The interior is very bright, thanks to the row of large windows in the clerestory plus three in the apse and five in the facade. [1] The architect was particularly aware of the light effects in an interior space like this. The glass tiles of the mosaics would create a shimmering effect and the walls would appear to float. Light would have been understood as a symbol of divinity. Light was a symbol for Christ. The emphasis in this architecture is on the spiritual effect and not the physical.

Sources Cited:

1- http://www.sacred-destinations.com/italy/rome-santa-sabina