Sant'Elena dei Credenzieri, Religious building in Sant'Eustachio district, Rome, Italy.
Sant'Elena dei Credenzieri was a church located near present-day Largo di Torre Argentina in the heart of Rome. The building contained three altars dedicated to Saint Helena as the main focus, the Assumption of Mary, and Saint Catherine.
The building was first recorded in 1186 under Pope Urban III's decree with the name San Nicola de Mellinis. A major renovation took place in 1594 when architect Francesco Ferrari oversaw its reconstruction.
The Credenzieri brotherhood brought together servants and domestic workers of cardinals and Roman nobility who gathered here for worship. Their presence shaped the spiritual life of the neighborhood for centuries after Pope Gregory XIII granted them the church in 1577.
The church was situated in Piazza Sant'Elena between Largo Arenula and Largo di Torre Argentina. Visitors interested in its history should know it was demolished in 1888 to make way for the construction of Via Arenula, a major street in this area today.
A fresco of the Holy Family was housed in a cupboard at the back of the church, connecting its decoration to the servants and workers who worshipped there. This intimate detail reflected the close relationship between this place of prayer and the daily lives of those who depended on cardinal households for employment.
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