Description: On Via Nomentana, after Villa Torlonia, you will find the Mausoleum of Santa Costanza. The building dates from the early 4th century and was built by the daughters of Emperor Constantine, Costanza and Elena. It was originally a baptistery of the nearby basilica of Sant'Agnese fuori le Mura and only became a church in the mid-13th Century. The circular building is a fine example of early Christian and late Roman architecture. The interior is divided by 12 pairs of granite columns adorned with marble capitals. The side apses have rich mosaics from the 5th and 7th Centuries, while the square niche opposite the entrance contains a copy of the sarcophagus of Costanza. The original was taken to the Vatican. The church also has ancient murals that have survived to the modern day.Exiting onto the Via Nomentana, there is the convent and the rectory. It was in the latter that Pope Pius IX and his retinue were miraculously saved when the floor below them collapsed. A fresco in the chapel known as the Pius IX's room commemorates the scene and can be seen from the courtyard.

Type: Attractions