Sant’Agnese in Agone – A Pope’s Private Chapel

When in Rome… Sant’Agnese in Agone

This When in Rome… Sant’Agnese in Agone blog article is written for the guests of the Hostel Chaplin Bed and Breakfast and B&B Little Italy in Rome.      All Hotels and B&B’s in Rome          Construction of the church of Sant’Agnese in Agone was started by Carlo and Girolamo Rainaldi and Borromini in 1652. Under the influence of his sister-in-law Donna Olimpia, Pope Innocent let Borromini take over a year later, as a result of the slowness and indecisiveness of the Rainaldi’s. When the pope died Borromini was fired and Carlo Rainaldi was allowed to finish the work (1672) under supervision of a commission of architects. According to legend the church was built on the spot where the young Christian Agnes was pilloried naked and covered herself with her long hair . In reality a place of worship dedicated to Agnes had existed there since the 8th century. A modest funerary monument for Pope Innocent X, who while still alive was able to attend mass rom a hidden window in the Palazzo Pamhilj (which can be visited upon request to the Brasilian Embassy housing there nowadays), can be found above the church entrance.  Pope Innocenzo X Pamphilj meant to create a sort of piazza-courtyard with its own palazzo and church, as the Farnese and Barberini families had done before him. Numerous existing buildings had to be detroyed or adapted for the construction of the new church and the Palazzo Pamphilj. When Borromini took over he could not change the design of the interior, but he changed the facade in order to highlight the cupola, which appears to protrude way further than it actually does. The impression of vastness is caused by the light coming in through the cupola’s windows.

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