San Giorgio al Velabro - Thursday, Week of Ash Wednesday

San Giorgio al Velabro is located in a beautiful part of Rome within sight of the famous Bocca della Verita (see Roman Holiday, with Audrey Hepburn and Gregory Peck). The church is tucked away in its own piazza hidden by the four-sided Roman Arch of Janus.

The church is located near the Tiber River, and is across the piazza from where the ancient pipes drained the forum. Also notable is that this area of Rome is where the young Romulus and Remus were said to have washed up, having been set into a basket by their mother as infants.

To the left of the chuch is the Arch of the Moneychangers. It was dedicated to the emperor Septimius Severus in 204 and the inscription is still visible.

The interior nave is flanked by columns, taken from other buildings. The columns do not match; some are fluted, some smooth. The interior is relatively plain, but welcoming. Windows above the arches let in light, and wooden beams support the ceiling in the side aisle. The apse contains a fresco with Christ, St. George on his white horse, and others.

A mafia car bomb in the 1990's seriously damaged the front of the church, and was part of a series of attacks across Italy.

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San Giorgio al Velabro, Google Maps

San Giorgio al Velabro, Google Street View

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