Latvia - Santi Quattro Coronati

The name of the church derives from the Roman tradition that concerns the martyrdom of four marble sculptors who were put to death under the Emperor Diocletian, for refusing to sculpt pagan idols.

Originally a luxurious aristocratic residence stood on this spot in late antiquity, and it was only in the fifth century that Pope Leo IV built a large edifice on the same foundations. It had three naves, the forms of which were so lavish that it became one of the most important basilicas of Carolingian Rome.

In 1084, however, it was utterly destroyed in the fire that devastated the city.

Having been rebuilt on a smaller scale at the behest of Pope Paschal II in the twelfth century, it fell into disuse once again when the papacy was transferred to Avignon. In 1564, however, Pope Pius IV converted the structure into a girls’ orphanage for the enclosed Augustinian nuns who still live there today.