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Basilica of Santa Maria sopra Minerva

Discover Basilica of Santa Maria sopra Minerva

Last updated on October 1, 2026

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Checked against Wikipedia — While many other medieval churches in Rome were refurbished during the Baroque era, replacing their Gothic structure and decoration, the Minerva is the only extant example of original Gothic architecture church building in Rome, and behind a restrained Renaissance style facade the Gothic interior features arched vaulting that was painted blue with gilded stars and trimmed with brilliant red ribbing during a 19th-century Neo-Gothic restoration, The Dominicans began building the present Gothic church in 1280 modelling it on their church in Florence Santa Maria Novella, architectural plans were probably drawn up during the pontificate of Nicholas III by two Dominican friars Fra Sisto Fiorentino and Fra Ristoro da Campi, and with the help of funds contributed by Boniface VIII and the faithful the side aisles were completed in the 14th century, In 1600 Carlo Maderno enlarged the apse, added Baroque decorations and created the present facade with its pilastered tripartite division in Renaissance style, marks on this facade dating back to the 16th and 17th centuries indicate various flood levels of the Tiber, and between 1848 and 1855 Girolamo Bianchedi directed an important program of restoration when most of the Baroque additions were removed and the blank walls were covered with neo-gothic frescos giving the interior the Neo-Gothic appearance that it has today (October 2026).

Architecture