The Basilica of Saint Augustine, located in the square of the same name, was one of the first Roman churches of the Renaissance era, and its origins date back to the 14th century when the Augustinians decided to build a new basilica for their monastery and dedicate it to the patron saint of their order. However, the new church, built only in 1420, turned out to be too small for the needs of the community and too low, so it flooded during the Tiber's overflows; for this reason, it was rebuilt by Giacomo da Pietrasanta and Sebastiano da Firenze at the behest of Cardinal Guillaume d'Estouteville between 1479 and 1483. The building was placed perpendicular to the previous one and raised, with the entrance from the street adorned with a beautiful staircase. Only in 1484 did the Augustinians move there.
Built near Via della Scrofa, this building was demolished in 1746 when Luigi Vanvitelli and Antonio Rinaldi expanded the Sant'Agostino monastery. In 1756, the architects also radically changed the church's interior, adding a hemispherical dome on a cylindrical drum—this is the first Renaissance dome in Rome—added side scrolls to the facade, and changed the 15th-century bell tower into a square tower.
The facade is clad with travertine blocks, traditionally taken from the Colosseum according to the customs of that time. The interior, in the shape of a Latin cross, is divided into three naves with five chapels on each of the side naves, a transept, and an apse surrounded by other chapels.
Through the entrance on the right is the famous "Madonna del Parto" from 1516 by Jacopo Tatti, known as "il Sansovino," a sculpture revered as the patroness of women in childbirth and filled with former voice. The central nave is framed by columns supporting round arches, above which are 12 stories from the life of the Virgin Mary: in particular, the third left column guards a marble group representing "St. Anne embracing the Virgin Mary and the Child," by Andrea Sansovino, a work around which all the poets of Rome came to hang their compositions on the day dedicated to the saint. This same column is decorated with a fresco by Raphael depicting the "Prophet Isaiah" (1512), surrounded by two putti. In the first chapel on the left is the famous painting by Caravaggio "Madonna of the Pilgrims" (1604).
On the main altar, made in 1627 according to a design by Bernini and executed by Horatio Torriani, is a Byzantine icon "Madonna and Child" from the Church of Hagia Sophia in Constantinople. Of particular note is the altar depicting “Saint Augustine between Saint John the Baptist and Saint Paul the Hermit” by Guercino and on the sides "Saint Augustine washing the Redeemer’s feet" and "Saint Augustine defeating heresies" by Lanfranco in the right transept chapel dedicated to the titular saint.
Furthermore, the church contains several outstanding tombs: besides the burials of Saint Monica, Cardinals Lorenzo and Renato Imperiali, the penultimate daughter of Lorenzo the Magnificent, Contessina de' Medici, and Cardinal Girolamo Verallo. In the past, it was also curious to find the remains of famous courtesans such as Fiammetta, the beloved mistress of Cesare Borgia, Giulia Campana, Tullia d'Aragona, and Penelope’s sister: today, all their tombs have disappeared. Courtesans were frequent visitors to the basilica to such an extent that they had reserved benches in the front rows so that the faithful, looking at them, would not be distracted during sermons and sacred services.
Sources:
https://www.soprintendenzaspecialeroma.it/schede/basilica-di-sant-agostino-in-campo-marzio_3119/
https://www.turismoroma.it/it/luoghi/basilica-di-santagostino-campo-marzio
