The church of San Gregorio Magno in Monte Porzio Catone

Whichever road you arrive by, the first thing you see of Monte Porzio Catone is the two bell towers of its main church. It stands at the highest point of the town, where the medieval castle once was, and every street in the centre climbs towards it.

Who is the church dedicated to?

To Saint Gregory the Great, San Gregorio Magno, pope and Doctor of the Church. The choice is not by chance: the first church of the refounded town was built at the wish of another Gregory, Pope Gregory XIII, the pope of the calendar, who spent his summers at nearby Villa Mondragone. The saint’s name tied the two together.

When was it built?

The story has two stages.

• 1579-1580. Gregory XIII decides to give the village a new parish church, designed by Martino Longhi. It is the act that brings the town back to life, after centuries in which the castle had been reduced to ruins. We tell the story in the history of Monte Porzio Catone.
• From 1666. Prince Giovanni Battista Borghese, following the wishes left by Pope Paul V in his will, has the church rebuilt from the foundations. This is the building we see today.

About a century later, in 1766 according to local sources, the church was consecrated again by Cardinal Henry Benedict Stuart, Duke of York, as an inscription on the inside of the facade recalls.

Carlo or Girolamo Rainaldi?

The sources disagree on the architect’s name. Most attribute the design to Carlo Rainaldi, one of the great architects of the Roman Baroque; some local texts name his father, Girolamo. Girolamo Rainaldi, however, died in 1655, eleven years before work began: that is why we give the attribution to Carlo, with the caution needed when the documents are not explicit.

What does it look like?

• The facade. It faces the valley and is divided into two levels, with pilasters in sperone, the grey stone of the Alban Hills, framing brick panels. In the centre is the marble coat of arms.
• The bell towers. There are two, on either side of the facade, with clocks. The facade stands forward of them, and from a distance it is this three pointed outline that tells you which town you are looking at.
• The interior. It is a Greek cross, with four equal arms: as you walk in you get a feeling of a space that is both wide and intimate, very different from long single nave churches.

Roman walls have been found under the church: here too, as all over the area, the modern town rests on an ancient villa.

What is inside?

The main works are the seventeenth century altarpieces, commissioned by the Borghese from some of the most sought after painters in Rome.

• High altar: the large canvas by Giacinto Brandi with Saint Gregory the Great, linked to the story of the end of a plague during the saint’s papacy.
• Side altars: the altarpiece by Ciro Ferri, a pupil of Pietro da Cortona, with Saint Anthony of Padua, and the canvas by Guglielmo Cortese, called il Borgognone, with the Virgin, Saint Dominic and Saint Catherine of Siena.
• The decoration: the interiors were overseen by Pietro Jacomo Mola, the sculpture by Francesco and Cosimo Fancelli.
• A statue of Saint Anthony Abbot and a nineteenth century organ complete the church.

The church today

In 1980 a strong earthquake damaged the church, which stayed closed for a long time. Restoration began about twelve years later and was completed in 2011.

The rooms of the church complex house the Museo della Città, the town museum, with archaeological finds, papal bulls, majolica and documents on the history of the town. The museum’s opening times change: check the town council’s website before you go.

In short

• Name: church of San Gregorio Magno, the Duomo of Monte Porzio Catone.
• Where: in piazza del Duomo, at the highest point of the old town.
• When: first church in 1579-1580 (Gregory XIII, Martino Longhi); the present building from 1666 (Giovanni Battista Borghese).
• Architect: attributed to Carlo Rainaldi.
• To see: the facade with its two bell towers, the Greek cross plan, the altarpieces by Brandi, Ferri and il Borgognone.
• Nearby: the old town, Villa Mondragone.