Rome - Santa Pudenziana

Santa Pudenziana is said to occupy the house of the Roman senator Pudens, whose daughters Pudentiana and Praxedes were converted by St Peter while staying in the house. The church was originally built in the reign of Pope Siricius (384-399); it has undergone much subsequent alteration, but the original apse with its mosaic decoration has been preserved.

The church, now lying below the present street level, is entered from Via Urbana. Externally its most notable features are the campanile and the remains of a Romanesque doorway. The finest thing in the interior is the mosaic in the apse (end of fourth century), now rather cramped by later building. It shows Christ surrounded by Apostles and women against a lively background based on ancient models, with a skillful use of perspective. Above the central group are the buildings of a city, a cross and the (partly obliterated) symbols of the four Evangelists, the man, the lion, the bull and the eagle.