Church of Saint Barnabas

The most important religious building of Marino is the church dedicated to the apostle Saint Barnabas, the patron saint of the city from 1617, thanks to his third miraculous intervention: in fact, during the celebration for this patron and for two consecutive years, the hailstorms, which were destroying the cultivations, suddenly interrupted. The works, commissioned by the cardinal Girolamo Colonna, bishop of Frascati, started on June 10, 1640. The church was built thanks to a design of Antonio del Grande (1620-1671) who worked in collaboration with Vincenzo della Greca. It was built on the previous structures of the Orti Boezi. The façade, in baroque style, was built in 1653.
Above the entrance doors are two niches in which there are two large statues in lava stone, representing St. Barnabas and Saint Lucia, patrons of Marino.

The Colonna family coat-of-arms is sculpted in the tympanum.
The interior is on the Latin cross with a nave covered with a barrel vault with lunettes, and two aisles.

Church of Saint Barnabas

The basilica contains several altars in precious marbles and important artworks: a Mater Dolorosa by Carlo Maratta, an altarpiece depicting the martyr of Saint Bartholomew by the school of Guercino, a bust of St. Anthony the Great by Ercole Ferrata and the monument to Girolamo Colonna sculpted by Alessandro Algardi.
The chapel in the choir is a decorated with a portrayal of Saint Francis of Assisi, variously attributed to Girolamo Muziano or Giovan Battista Caracciolo, an Ecce Homo (illustrating the Passion and Life of Christ) by Cherubino Alberti to drawings by Michelangelo Buonarroti, and two ovals, Saint Peter and Saint Paul, attributed to Guido Reni.
In the apse there is a painting depicting the martyr of St. Barnabas attributed to Bartolomeo Gennari (1594-1661), pupil of the school of Guercino.
In the sacristy there is a wonderful cross made by artists of the school of Bernini.