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Church of St Nicholas of Bari in Mandela: the heart of the village since the 11th century
The church of San Nicola di Bari is one of the oldest buildings in Mandela, a small village in the Aniene valley, near Rome. It dates back to the 11th century, when the local community built it as the religious and community heart of the village. Today, the interior still preserves the appearance it acquired during the 18th-century renovation.
A village built around a church
The Abbey of Farfa constructed the building during the fortification of the "podium de Burdella," when the village was still called Cantalupo and belonged to the Abbey of San Cosimato. The first written mention appears in the bull of Pope Innocent III dated 13 June 1213. The village changed its name several times — Burdella, Bardella, Cantalupo Bardella — before returning, after 1870, to the name Mandela, which Horace had already used in the 1st century BC.
From manorial court to parish church
As some archaeological finds attest, the Mandela area has been inhabited since the Bronze Age. Over the centuries, the village came under the control of families such as the Orsini, the Palazzolo, the Nuñez, and finally the Del Gallo of Roccagiovine, yet its medieval layout has remained almost intact. It was in the Middle Ages that the church of San Nicola di Bari served as a manorial court. Today, it is the town's only parish church, dedicated to its patron saint, St Nicholas.
