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Walking Tours of Rome

From Mausoleum to Church

13/5/2019

 
Walking Tours of Rome
Santa Costanza, Rome
Santa Costanza

In a quiet corner of Rome stands the church of Santa Costanza, which was originally the Mausoleum of Constantia and her sister Helena, daughters of the emperor Constantine the Great (r. 306-337).

The central space is surrounded by an ambulatory, made up of 24 pairs of granite columns. The barrel vaulting of the ambulatory is decorated with a series of remarkable mosaics (4th century). 

The mausoleum was transformed into a baptistery before becoming a church in 1254.

Both Constantia and Helena were interred here. Constantia's monumental porphyry sarcophagus is now on display in the Vatican Museums, Helena's has not survived. 

Interior of Santa Costanza, Rome
Interior of Santa Costanza
Mosaic, Santa Costanza, Rome
Mosaic

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    My name is David Lown and I am an art historian from Cambridge, England.

    Since 2001 I have been living in Italy, where I run
    ​ walking tours of Florence, Rome &
    Venice.

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  • Private Tours
    • Private Tours of Rome
    • Private Tours of Florence
    • Private Tours of Venice
  • Contact
  • Rome
  • Vatican
  • Florence
  • Venice
  • Tuscany
  • Gallery
  • Year in Art