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Santa Francesca Romana, previously known as Santa Maria Nova, is a church in Rome, that is situated next to the Roman Forum
Back of Santa Francesca Romana, showing the ruins of the Temple of Venus and Rome


The church was built in the second half of the tenth century, incorporating an eighth-century oratory that Pope Paul I excavated in the wing of the portico of the Temple of Venus and Roma; it was named Santa Maria Nova ("new St. Mary"), to distinguish it from the other Roman Forum church devoted to St. Mary, Santa Maria Antiqua ("ancient St. Mary"), which had become dilapidated in the tenth century;[1] it was rebuilt by Pope Honorius II in the thirteenth century, when the campanile was built and the apse was decorated with mosaics of a Maestà, the Madonna enthroned accompanied by saints. The interior has been altered since. Since 1352 the church has been in the care of the Benedettini di Montoliveto, the Olivetans. In the 16th century the church was rededicated to Frances of Rome (canonized in 1608), whose relics are in the crypt. Its travertine porch and façade is by Carlo Lambardi, and was completed in 1615.

The interior, in a single nave with side chapels, was rebuilt by Lambardi in the years preceding Francesca Buzzi's canonization, beginning in 1595. In the middle of the nave is the rectangular schola cantorum of the old church, covered in Cosmatesque mosaics. Another prominent feature is the confessional designed by Gian Lorenzo Bernini (1638-49), in polychrome marbles with four columns veneered in jasper.The church houses the precious Madonna Glycophilousa ("our Lady of the tenderness"), an early fifth -century icon brought from Santa Maria Antiqua. The twelfth-century Madonna and Child that had been painted over it was meticulously detached in 1950 from the panel and is now kept in the sacristy.The ancient oratory on which the current church is built was located by Pope Paul I on the place in which Simon Magus died. According to this legend, Simon Magus wanted to prove his powers as stronger than those of the apostles, and started levitating in front of Sts. Peter and Paul. The two apostles fell on their knees preaching, and Simon fell, dying. The basalt stones where the apostles were kept the imprints of their knees, and are embedded in the wall of the south transept.The tomb of Pope Gregory XI, who returned the papacy to Rome from Avignon, reconstructed to a design by Per Paulo Olivieri (signed and dated 1584) is in the south transept.
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Basilica di Santa Francesca Romana e le rovine del tempio di venere
Santa Francesca Romana, anche nota come Santa Maria Nova, è una delle chiese di Roma. Fondata nel IX secolo e dedicata alla omonima santa, è situata su Foro Romano.La chiesa venne costruita nel IX secolo per volere di papa Paolo I, su di un preesistente oratorio. A seguito del restauro del X secolo, ricevette la dedica alla Madonna e il nome di Santa Maria Nova per distinguerla dall'altra chiesa del Foro Romano avente la stessa dedica, Santa Maria Antiqua. Nel XII secolo l'edificio fu sottoposto ad una importante ristrutturazione, che vide l'erezione del campanile e la decorazione dell'abside. Con la traslazione delle reliquie di santa Francesca Romana nella cripta, nel XV secolo, la chiesa cambiò dedica per assumere quella attuale.