The Minerva Hotel was the home of Monsignor Francis Spellman during the time before the Second World War when he was working in the papal Secretariat of State. It is a truly grand hotel today however, in Spellman's time less so but still a quality hotel. Across from it is the papal school which trains Vatican ambassadors and diplomatic staff. As you step out the door and turn left you come upon Gammarelli, the papal tailor. The basilica of Santa Maria Sopra Minerva is next door -- Rome's only gothic church in which Galileo's trial took place centuries ago. St Catherine of Siena prayed there and is entombed there. And the famous Roman Pantheon is footsteps away. So, just walking out of the door you find yourself smothered in church history.
The Minerva Hotel was the home of Monsignor Francis Spellman during the time before the Second World War when he was working in the papal Secretariat of State. It is a truly grand hotel today however, in Spellman's time less so but still a quality hotel. Across from it is the papal school which trains Vatican ambassadors and diplomatic staff. As you step out the door and turn left you come upon Gammarelli, the papal tailor. The basilica of Santa Maria Sopra Minerva is next door -- Rome's only gothic church in which Galileo's trial took place centuries ago. St Catherine of Siena prayed there and is entombed there. And the famous Roman Pantheon is footsteps away. So, just walking out of the door you find yourself smothered in church history.
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