The Basilica of Saint Sabina (, ) is a historic church on the Aventine Hill in Rome, Italy. It is a titular minor basilica and mother church of the Roman Catholic Order of Preachers, better known as the Dominicans.
Santa Sabina is the oldest extant ecclesiastical basilica in Rome that preserves its original colonnaded rectangular plan with apse and architectural style. Its decorations have been restored to their original restrained design. Other basilicas, such as Santa Maria Maggiore, have been ornately decorated in later centuries. Because of its simplicity, the Santa Sabina represents the adaptation of the architecture of the roofed Roman forum or basilica to the basilica churches of Christendom. It is especially well-known for its cypress wood doors carved in AD 430-432 with Biblical scenes, the most famous being the first known publicly displayed depiction of the crucifixion of Jesus Christ and the two thieves.
Santa Sabina is perched high above the Tiber to the north and the Circus Maximus to the east. It is next to the small public park of Giardino degli Aranci ("Garden of Oranges"), which has a scenic terrace overlooking Rome. It is a short distance from the headquarters of the Knights of Malta.
Its last cardinal priest was Jozef Tomko until his death on 8 August 2022. It is the stational church for Ash Wednesday.
History
The church was built on the site of early Imperial houses, one of which is said to be of Sabina, a Roman matron originally from Avezzano in the Abruzzo region of Italy. Sabina was beheaded in AD 126 under Emperor Hadrian, because she had been converted to Christianity by her servant Serapia, who also had been beheaded in AD 119. Sabina and Serapia were later declared Catholic saints.
Santa Sabina was built by Peter of Illyria, a Dalmatian priest, between 422 and 432 near a temple of Juno on the Aventine Hill in Rome.
Pope Celestine I established the cardinal title of Santa Sabina with its seat here in 423.
In the 9th century, it was enclosed in a fortification area.
in 1216 Pope Honorius III approved the Order of Preachers, now commonly known as the Dominicans, which was "the first order instituted by the Church with an academic mission". Honorius III invited Saint Dominic, the founder of the Order of Preachers, to take up residence at the church of Santa Sabina in 1220. The official foundation of the Dominican convent at Santa Sabina with its studium conventuale, the first Dominican studium in Rome, occurred with the legal transfer of property from Honorius III to the Order of Preachers on June 5, 1222 though the brethren had taken up residence there already in 1220.
The church was the seat of a papal conclave in 1287, although the prelates left the church after an epidemic killed six of them. They later returned to the church, and elected Nicholas IV as pope on February 22, 1288.
Its interior was renovated by Domenico Fontana in 1587 (after being commissioned by Pope Sixtus V in 1586) and Francesco Borromini in 1643.
The Kingdom of Italy conquered Rome in 1870; expelled the Dominicans; and converted the church into a lazaretto (quarantine station for maritime travelers).
Italian architect and art historian Antonio Muñoz (1884-1960) restored the original simplistic medieval appearance of the church in 1914-1919. French architect P. Berthier completed its restoration in 1936-1938.
Among those who have lived in its adjacent convent were Saint Dominic (1220-1221), St Thomas Aquinas (1265-1268), Blessed Ceslaus, Saint Hyacinth, and Pope Pius V.
Architecture
Exterior
The Minor Basilica of Santa Sabina is built in the manner of an Ancient Roman secular basilica, or covered forum. The characteristics are a long central nave with a lower aisle on each side. Above the aisles, the walls of the nave are pierced by a row of large clerestory windows. The brick walls are mostly unrendered, and the windows are made of selenite, not glass, making the building look much as it did when it was built in the 5th century.
The building has a colonnaded porch opening onto a cloister, and at the other end, a semi-circular apse.
The campanile (bell tower) was originally built in the 10th century; but was rebuilt in the 17th century in the Baroque style.