Santa Francesca Romana: Distant view, depicting façade with medieval campanile behind

Santa Francesca Romana, previously known as Santa Maria Nova, is a 9th century church in Rome, situated in the Roman Forum. The Romanesque campanile is from the 11th century. After the canonization of St Francesca in 1608, it was rededicated to her and restored. “His most important commission was the façade of S Francesca Romana (1615) in the Forum, undertaken after the saint’s canonization in 1608, along with the coffered ceiling (1612) and general restoration of the church. Lambardi combined the imagery of a triumphal arch, appropriate for the location, with a colossal-order temple front to create Rome’s most Palladian façade.”