In the heart of the Trastevere neighborhood in Rome, there is one of the most famous churches in Rome: the basilica of Santa Cecilia in Trastevere.
Santa Cecilia is one of the most famous Roman martyrs and her name automatically recalls the idea of music. She is in fact the patron saint of music and she is always represented with a musical instrument.
This church was built on top of Santa Cecilia’s apartment building in Trastevere. Which is also the location where she was killed.
Cecilia is one of the most famous saints of Rome. In fact the area of the Trastevere neighborhood where her church is, it is referred to by the locals as the “Santa-Cecilia-Trastevere“.
The story of Santa Cecilia in Trastevere
Cecilia used to live in an apartment building, located right where the church is today. She lived in the 3rd century, when in Rome Christianity was still illegal. And Cecilia was an active Christian, converting people and organizing masses in her apartment.
But at some point Cecilia was caught, arrested and condemned to death by the Roman authorities.
The Romans knew Cecilia was popular among the Christians and they didn’t want to turn her into a martyr, therefore they tried to keep a low profile with her execution. They initially locked her in the balnea (similar to our modern saunas) of her apartment building for three days.
Three days later the Roman soldiers went to pick up her dead body. But they found that Cecilia was still alive. Apparently an angel came down and cooled the temperature for her, so that she wouldn’t suffocate.
The Roman authorities were startled and they decided to execute her again, this time by beheading. At the time there was a rule about beheading executions. The executioner could give a maximum of 3 hits with his sword to cut a head.
Unfortunately after the 3rd hit of the sword, the head of the poor Cecilia was still partially attached to her neck. They left her in agony for days.
According to the legend, during her agony she sang and converted more people. She died listening to a pipe organ, hence why she is considered the patron saint of music.
Cecilia was then buried into the catacombs of San Callisto on the Appian Way.
The statue of Santa Cecilia in Trastevere
Centuries later, in the 800s, Pope Pasquale I decided to find Cecilia’s body in the catacombs. But the catacombs where Cecilia was buried are an intricate system of more than 20 kilometers of tunnels. Finding someone in such a place was not that easy.
One night Pope Pasquale I had a dream. Cecilia appeared in his dreams and told the Pope exactly where to find her tomb. The Pope followed her directions and found her tomb.
But when he opened her tomb, to transport her remains into a new church in Trastevere, with great surprise the Pope discovered Cecilia’s body was still intact! That was a miracle, and the Pope celebrated it by taking her body in Trastevere and building this church in the name of Cecilia.
That’s when he built the first church of Santa Cecilia in Trastevere.
The church was then renovated multiple times over the centuries. During the renovations of 1599 Cardinal Sfrondati decided to open the tomb of Cecilia again. Inside he found the body of the saint still intact. He then commissioned sculptor Stefano Maderno to make a sculpture of what he saw inside her tomb. That sculpture is still today below the altar of the church.
Cavallini frescoes in St Cecilia
You can get access from the nuns to the upstair choir. Here you’ll find the medieval frescoes that painter Pietro Cavallini made in the 1290s, representing the Last Judgement. This fresco had been covered after the construction of the choir of the nuns in the 1500s. And was forgotten for centuries. It was only during the renovation of the choir in the 20th century that the fresco was rediscovered! This is not only a precious and beautiful fresco, but also a milestone for Italian painting, because with it Cavallini marked a renaissance of Western art, that was finally making a separation from the influence of the eastern Bizantine art.
To visit the Cavallini frescoes in Santa Cecilia in Trastevere you need to make a small offer to the nuns.
The Crypt of Santa Cecilia
Below the church you will find the crypt and the archaeological excavations of the ancient Roman insula (apartment building) of Cecilia. To go underground you need to make a small offer to the nuns. Downstairs you’ll find cubicles, corridors, ancient mosaic floors, pools, the atrium of an ancient house from the 2nd century BC. But most importantly you’ll find the balnea (sauna) where Cecilia was imprisoned for three days.
The last room is something you don’t expect, the crypt of St Cecilia.
When in the crypt, behind the little white window you will see the sarcophagus where Cecilia is buried still today.
Check out our Hidden gems of Trastevere tour with Tiber island & Jewish Ghetto. During this relaxing morning stroll you’ll learn even more details of Cecilia’s intricate and dramatic story, as well as walking through the very places where everything happened!
Our tours are not packed, not rushed, and not stuck in tourist spots — because this is how we’d show Rome to a close friend. You can learn more about how our Rome tours work or the best Rome tours.
