Santa Sabina Essay

Santa Sabina was built on the Aventine Hill on the site of the former Temple of Juno Regina, being constructed with many of the same materials. This church was an expansion of the Roman house church Titulus, which was owned by a woman named Sabina. According to common practice in ancient Rome, the church kept the title holders name by adding "Saint" onto their name.

The Church at Santa Sabina was founded somewhere around 425 AD by Elder Peter of Illyria, who inscribed his name and good deeds on a mosaic inscription in the facility. The building itself was completed by about 432.

Technological advances marked the evolution from the early basilica style seen at San Clemente, to the new Roman standard basilica of the fifth century seen at Santa

The beautiful windows and marble furniture date all the way back to the 9th century and were reconstructed with great care and thoroughness from fragments in the early 20th century.

The fresco from the 16th-century in the apsis is one of few later decorations that were allowed to remain after the restoration, since they mirrored the spirit of the original apsis mosaic. There are a few traces of 5th-century frescos to be found in the church, at the east end of the structure. The interior nave’s flooring contains Rome's only surviving mosaic tomb, which we believe is dated around 1300.

Painfully, almost all of the original mosaic decorations, which would have been as grand and lavish as that of Ravenna's basilicas, have disappeared over the years. The only survivor, however, is one of the most important ones: the 5th-century dedicatory inscription. This lengthy Latin text, penned in gold on a blue background, is bordered by two female figures who represent the Church of the Jews and the Church of the Gentiles.

This inscription is not only important because it gives the founder's name and build date of the church, but also because it conveys the doctrine of papal superiority, which was still evolving at that