Basilica dei Santi Bonifacio e Alessio all'Aventino

Built between the third and fourth centuries and dedicated at first to St Boniface; in 986 St Alexis was added to the title. It was rebuilt in 1217, when the relics of the two saints were placed under the high altar. The present appearance comes from works begun before the 1750 jubilee to the design of Giovanni Battista Nolli, 1701 to 1756, reworked by Tommaso De Marchis, 1693 to 1759, with further work between 1852 and 1860 by the Somaschi Fathers, to whom Pius IX had given the basilica. De Marchis's facade is neo-cinquecentesco; to its right stands the thirteenth-century campanile of five orders with paired bifore, and the cloister has granite columns taken from ancient buildings. Michele Ottaviani painted the vault of the central nave, and Carlo Gavardini the apse and the crossing pendentives.