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Church of St. Louis of the French Rome Italy San Luigi dei Francesi
The Church of St. Louis of the French (Italian: San Luigi dei Francesi, French: Saint Louis des Français, Latin: S. Ludovici Francorum de Urbe) is a Roman Catholic minor basilica and titular church in Rome, not far from Piazza Navona. The church is entitled to the Virgin Mary, to St. Dionigi Areopagita and St. Louis IX, king of France. The church was designed by Giacomo della Porta and built by Domenico Fontana between 1518 and 1589: the works could be completed through the personal intervention of Catherine de' Medici, who donated to it some possessions in the area. It is the National Church in Rome of current Cardinal Priest of the Titulus S. Ludovici Francorum de Urbe is André Vingt-Trois. When the Saracens burned the Abbey of Farfa in 898, a group of refugees settled in Rome. Monks remained in Rome even after their abbot Ratfredus (934-936) rebuilt the abbey. By the end of the tenth century, the Abbey of Farfa owned in Rome churches, houses, windmills and vineyards. A bull of Holy Roman Emperor Otto III in 998 confirms the property of three churches[5]: Santa Maria, San Benedetto and the oratorio of San Salvatore. When they ceded their property to the Medici family in 1480, the church of Santa Maria became the church of Saint Louis of the French. Cardinal Giulio di Giuliano de' Medici commissioned Jean de Chenevière to build a church for the French community in 1518[6]. Building was halted when Rome was sacked in 1527, the church was finally completed in 1589 by Domenico Fontana. The interior was restored by Antoine Dérizet between 1749 and 1756.
Size: 3410px × 5134px
Location: Rome, Italy
Photo credit: © M.Flynn / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
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