![\"\"](\"https:\/\/kathyschiffer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/St.-Bibiana-church-Rome-225x300.jpg\")
If there\u2019s one thing you see a lot of in Rome, it\u2019s churches.<\/strong>\u00a0 Turn the corner on any street, and within a block you\u2019re likely to see the fa\u00e7ade of an ancient Catholic church.\u00a0 You hear a lot about the more famous ones (the major basilicas, the Gesu, the Santa Maria sopra Minerva)\u2014but there are over 900 churches in the city, most of them Catholic.<\/p>\nDecember 2 is the feast of St. Bibiana,<\/strong> virgin and martyr\u2014I thought I\u2019d share a picture of St. Bibiana\u2019s, a small church located near the Termini train station.\u00a0 Initially built by Pope Simplicius in 467, it was restored by Pope Honorius III in 1224 A.D.\u00a0 Pope Urban VIII commissioned the artist Bernini, who also designed the great colonnade at St. Peter\u2019s Basilica as well as the baldacchino above the great altar in St. Peter\u2019s, to design the present facade.\u00a0 Bernini also sculpted a statue of St. Bibiana which stands inside the church.<\/p>\n It is believed that Apronianus, governor of Rome, ordered the execution of Bibiana.\u00a0 She was tied to a pillar, then scourged with whips tipped with lead until she was dead.\u00a0 The pillar to which she was tied stands just inside the church.<\/p>\n St. Bibiana, her sister Demetria and her mother Dafrosa are all buried under the major altar.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" If there\u2019s one thing you see a lot of in Rome, it\u2019s churches.\u00a0 Turn the corner on any street, and within a block you\u2019re likely to see the fa\u00e7ade of an ancient Catholic church.\u00a0 You hear a lot about the more famous ones (the major basilicas, the Gesu, the Santa Maria sopra Minerva)\u2014but there are […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":556,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[25,49,56,154,223],"tags":[684],"class_list":["post-4968","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-architecture","category-catholic","category-churches","category-martyrs","category-saints","tag-st-bibiana"],"yoast_head":"\n