San Giovanni a Porta Latina
The church of San Giovanni a Porta Latina sits to the left of the road, some 100 meters before its eponymous gate in the Aurelianic Walls. Possibly dating to the fifth century AD, the church was restored by Pope Hadrian I at the end of the eight century, and extensively remodelled during the pontificate of Celestine III at the end of the twelfth century, as recorded by an inscription preserved inside the church. However, its present medieval appearance is in part due to twentieth century ‘restorations’, which stripped out additions and modifications made in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, in order to create a more ‘medieval’ look, as shown by the historical photos of John Henry Parker and Hans Peter L’Orange.
Christopher Siwicki, 2025
