Santa Maria degli Angeli e dei Martiri
In a time of Plague
In a time of Plague
This basilica is built inside the ruined remains of the frigidarium of the enormous and ancient Baths of Diocletian. It transformed those ruins in the 16th century, following an original design by Michelangelo. The impetus for this memorial to the Christian martyrs, known and unknown, was a reputed vision of the Archangel Uriel, "the fire of God"..The interior is a series of shaped spaces, developed from a Greek cross. From 1870 to 1946 this was the official state church of the Kingdom of Italy. Of special note is a metal and marble meridian line, often likened to a sundial, that was contrived to check the accuracy of the 16th century Gregorian reform of the calendar regarding solar time.