San Sisto - Wednesday, Third Week of Lent

San Sisto Vecchio honors Pope Sixtus II, who was martyred in 258 in the same persecution and orders which brought about the death of St. Laurence; Sixtus was the Pope, and Laurence was one of his deacons. He was laid to rest in the catacombs outside of Rome, and translated here to this church sometime in the 500s. To be clear, there is really no question of the veracity of the relics; shortly after his death his resting place was memorialized with a plaque, allowing for easy identification.

As we have seen with these oldest Christian churches, this was a titulus church. In other words, it was built over the private home where worship took place. In the case of San Sisto, the remains of a bath house were found underneath as well.

In the early 1200s the church was provided to St. Dominic, founder of the Dominican Order, and contemporary of St. Francis of Assisi. There have been a variety of changes in the building and the usage, including tremendous rebuilding during the Renaissance. Nevertheless, it has been identified with various religious orders since the time of St. Dominic.

A variety of circumstances have made this church fairly inaccessible. There has been, until recently, an active order levied on the property, which makes the church less accessible than others. In addition, the widening of the road in this part of Rome - outside of the center of Rome - has encroached tremendously on the property of the church. And, finally, the church itself appears to be closed. There has been significant construction, and it is unclear if the church is open at the present time.

From the few photographs that are available, the interior of the church displays none of its ancient history. The color scheme is yellow with white trim, and the apse has a scallop design with a window in the center. Curiously there does appear to have been an event in the church around 2020, as seen in a Twitter / X post which shows a ceremony taking place.

This is a curious church, which seems to have an active community, which is always positive! There is a hope that construction efforts prevail and the structure itself can still be utilized.

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San Sisto Vecchio, Google Maps

Domenicani has some pictures of the interior

Exterior photos from Flickr user, Roma ieri, Roma oggi, Raccolta Foto de Alvariis