Apse and triumphal arch. of the Basilica of Saint Sabina on the Aventine Hill in Rome, Italy. The original fifth-century apse mosaic was replaced in 1559 by a very similar fresco by Taddeo Zuccari. The tall, spacious nave has twenty four columns of Proconnesian marble with perfectly matched Corinthian capitals and bases, which were reused from the Temple of Juno, erected on the hilltop site during Roman times. The titular minor basilica is the mother church of the Roman Catholic Order of Preachers, better known as the Dominicans. Santa Sabina is perched high above the Tiber river to the north and the Circus Maximus to the east. Santa Sabina is the oldest extant Roman basilica in Rome that preserves its original colonnaded rectangular plan and architectural style. Its decorations have been restored to their original restrained design. Because of its simplicity, the Santa Sabina represents the crossover from a roofed Roman forum to the churches of Christendom. It is especially famous for its 5th-century carved wooden door, with a cycle of Christian scenes 18 now remaining that is one of the earliest to survive. It is the stationary church for Ash Wednesday.
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