Overview
In an isolated position on the Caelian Hill, the Basilica of the Santi Quattro Coronati may, at first glance, look like a fortress. In reality, it is a genuine convent complex that has been inhabited and run by Augustinian nuns since the 16th century. It is possibly dedicated to five stonemasons killed in the time of Diocletian for their refusal to carve a statue of the god Aesculapius, or perhaps to four Roman soldiers (Severus, Severian, Carpophorus and Victorinus) who refused to worship the statue. What is certain is that a visit to this mystical place will leave you breathless. The building was founded in the mid-fifth century, enlarged in the seventh century, transformed in the ninth by Leo IV (the period to which the bell tower, the oldest one in Rome, dates) and rebuilt by Paschal II in 1111. The monastery and oratory of San Silvestro were built in the late 12th and early 13th century. The church, which can be accessed after passing through the first two cloisters of the monastery, has three naves, with women's galleries, a cosmatesque floor and fragments of medieval and 17th century paintings. The left aisle leads to the silent cosmatesque cloister, the work of Roman marble workers from the 13th century, onto which opens the chapel of Santa Barbara with frescoes from the 12th–13th centuries. In the chapel of the oratory of San Silvestro, consecrated in 1247, there are beautiful frescoes from the same period with stories from the life of Constantine. The restoration of the complex has included the recovery of the Gothic Hall" on the first floor of the Main Tower, with a lively painting cycle from the mid-13th century representing the arts and the months of the year.
