| San Girolamo dei Croati | |
| Other Name: | St. Jerome of the Croatians Sancti Hieronymi Croatorum |
| Mapframe: | yes |
| Mapframe-Caption: | Click on the map for a fullscreen view |
| Mapframe-Zoom: | 12 |
| Mapframe-Marker: | religious-christian |
| Coordinates: | 41.905°N 12.4757°W |
| Location: | Via Tomacelli 132, Rome |
| Country: | Italy |
| Denomination: | Roman Catholic |
| Tradition: | Roman Rite |
| Cardinal Protector: | Josip Bozanic |
| Dedication: | Jerome |
| Consecration Year: | 1587 |
| Status: | Titular church, national church |
| Architectural Type: | Church |
| Groundbreaking: | 1585 |
| Completed Date: | 1587 |
Saint Jerome of the Croats is the national Catholic church of Croatia on Via Tomacelli in the Campus Martius of Rome. It is now a chapel of the Pontifical Croatian College of Saint Jerome in Rome and is only open to visitors by arrangement with the College.
It is also known as "St. Jerome of the Illyrians" (Italian: San Girolamo degli Illirici), and was formerly known as "St. Jerome of the Slavs" (Italian: San Girolamo degli [[Schiavone|Schiavoni]]).[1]
It was first built in 1585-1587 for refugees from areas ruled by the Turks, and dedicated to St Jerome, who was from Dalmatia (former Roman Illyricum).[2] The small, ruined church of Santa Marina de Posterula had been given to them in 1453 (the year of the Fall of Constantinople) by Pope Nicholas V, for the construction of a church and hospice. It once faced the port built on the Tiber River, called the Porto di Ripetta.[3]
The confraternity was renamed Congregatio or "Society of St. Jerome" in 1544.
Around 1588, Pope Sixtus V, who as Cardinal Montalvo had served as cardinal-protector, commissioned Martino Longhi the Elder to completely rebuild the church and add a bell tower.[4] The late Renaissance façade is of travertine, decorated with the pope’s emblems.
The fresco on the interior cupola was done in a Trompe-l'œil effect by Giovanni Guerra around 1590. The Evangelists on the pendentives are by Paolo Guidotti. Andrea Lilio provided frescoes for the transept side vaults. Most of them had previously done work for Sixtus at the Vatican. Frescoes in the nave were completed by Pietro Gagliardi in 1847 from a bequest of Pope Pius IX.[5]
The church underwent restoration in 2018 after the earthquakes of two years prior.
Early burials took place in the guesthouse cemetery.[6]