Basilica dei Santi XII Apostoli

The church dedicated to Saints Philip and James was first built under Pope Pelagius I in the mid-6th century and finished by Pope John III as a thank‑you monument after Rome was freed from the Goths. The relics of the two apostles were brought from the East and placed in a marble niche at the high altar, where they stayed for about 1,300 years until being rediscovered in 1873. Originally the basilica had three naves with rows of columns and a porphyry-canopied altar; it also held many martyrs’ remains. Over the centuries it was remodeled several times, and 15th‑century frescoes by Melozzo da Forlì were mostly lost (only fragments survive, later moved to the Vatican and Quirinale).

By the early 1700s the building was in danger of collapse, so Francesco and Carlo Fontana rebuilt it in a Baroque style with support from the Conventual Franciscans and Pope Clement XI; Benedict XIII consecrated the new church in 1724. The result today is a Baroque basilica that sits on ancient foundations and layers of history — a monument that blends its early Christian origins, medieval changes, Renaissance artworks, and a full 18th‑century reconstruction.

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