St Jerome of the Croats is the 16th century titular church of the Pontifical Croatian College of St Jerome, and the national church of Croatia.
For reference, a plan of the church is available
here.
The church was first recorded in the 11th century, and was then called Santa Marina de Posterula.
The church fell into ruin in the 15th century. Pope Nicholas V, in 1453, gave the pious association of the Croatian the then dilapidated church on the left bank of the Tiber, near the mausoleum of the Roman Emperor Augustus. Along with the church they also received permission for the construction of a hospice and a hospital for their countrymen. They repaired the church and re-dedicated it to St Jerome, their patron who had been born in Illyria. Hence, the church was named
San Girolamo degli Illirici or
degli Schiavoni.
The Slavic expatriates were organized into a formal confraternity, and in 1587 Pope Sixtus V had the church completely rebuilt for the Croatian-speaking community in Rome. The architects were
Martino Longhi the Elder and
Giovanni Fontana. The iconographic program of the frescoes were executed by a team of painters led by
Giovanni Guerra. The
church was built in just over two years.
In 1790 Pope Pius VI founded a seminary here for Croat candidates for the priesthood.
In 1847, by the will of Pope Pius IX, the church underwent an overall restoration. This is when the enormous fresco cycle by
Pietro Gagliardi was executed. As a result of the 2016 earthquakes in Italy there was another restoration in 2018-2020.
