Santo Stefano Rotondo. The Basilica of St. Stephen in the Round on the Celian Hill is an ancient basilica and titular church in Rome, Italy.
Commonly named Santo Stefano Rotondo, the church is Hungary's national church in Rome, dedicated to both Saint Stephen, the first Christian martyr, and Stephen I, the sanctified first king of Hungary who imposed Christianity on his subjects. The minor basilica is also the rectory church of the Pontifical Collegium Germanicum et Hungaricum.
As of 2005, the Cardinal Priest or titular S. Stephano is Friedrich Wetter. The earliest church was consecrated by Pope Simplicius between 468 and 483.
It was dedicated to the protomartyr Saint Stephen, whose body had been discovered a few decades before in the Holy Land, and brought to Rome. The church was the first in Rome to have a circular plan.
Its architecture is unique in the Late Roman world. Saint Stefano was probably financed by the wealthy Valerius family whose estates covered large parts of the Caelian Hill. Their villa stood nearby, on the site of the present-day Hospital of San Giovanni Addolorata. Saint Melania the Elder, a member of the family, was a frequent pilgrim to Jerusalem and died there, so the family had connections to the Holy Land. The church was originally commissioned by Pope Leo I, with the date confirmed by ancient coins and by dendrochronology, which places the wood used in the beams of the roof
Commonly named Santo Stefano Rotondo, the church is Hungary's national church in Rome, dedicated to both Saint Stephen, the first Christian martyr, and Stephen I, the sanctified first king of Hungary who imposed Christianity on his subjects. The minor basilica is also the rectory church of the Pontifical Collegium Germanicum et Hungaricum.
As of 2005, the Cardinal Priest or titular S. Stephano is Friedrich Wetter. The earliest church was consecrated by Pope Simplicius between 468 and 483.
It was dedicated to the protomartyr Saint Stephen, whose body had been discovered a few decades before in the Holy Land, and brought to Rome. The church was the first in Rome to have a circular plan.
Its architecture is unique in the Late Roman world. Saint Stefano was probably financed by the wealthy Valerius family whose estates covered large parts of the Caelian Hill. Their villa stood nearby, on the site of the present-day Hospital of San Giovanni Addolorata. Saint Melania the Elder, a member of the family, was a frequent pilgrim to Jerusalem and died there, so the family had connections to the Holy Land. The church was originally commissioned by Pope Leo I, with the date confirmed by ancient coins and by dendrochronology, which places the wood used in the beams of the roof
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