San Giovanni della Malva in Trastevere ()ÃÂ is a church in Rome, in theÃÂ Trastevere district, located in Piazza di S. Giovanni della Malva. It is theÃÂ AlbanianÃÂ national churchÃÂ in Rome.
The church dates back to the Middle Ages.ÃÂ It is attested by aÃÂ bullÃÂ ofÃÂ Pope Callixtus IIÃÂ ofÃÂ 1123ÃÂ with the name ofÃÂ Sancti Iohannis prope portam SeptimianamÃÂ (near the Porta Settimiana). It was known in theÃÂ fourteenth centuryÃÂ by the name ofÃÂ Sancti Iohannis ad IaniculumÃÂ (al Gianicolo).ÃÂ The current name, attested only sinceÃÂ 1367, can derive either from the mallow that grew near or from the corruption of the nameÃÂ Mica AureaÃÂ (golden sand), a name that in the Middle Ages was given to the part of theÃÂ GianicoloÃÂ still called Montorio.ÃÂ Moreover, in some catalogues of Roman churches, it is called Sancti Iohannis Mica Aurea. InÃÂ 1475, on the occasion of theÃÂ JubileeÃÂ and the opening of the Sisto bridge,ÃÂ Pope Sixtus IVÃÂ had it restored.ÃÂ InÃÂ 1818ÃÂ the medieval church was demolished because it was dilapidated and in a state of decay, and inÃÂ 1851ÃÂ a new one was built, financed by Pio Grazioli, based on a project byÃÂ Giacomo Moraldi.
The church has a tripartite façade and a triangular tympanum;àabove the door there is aàbasàreliefàdepictingàthe Virgin Mary with saints John the Evangelist and John the Baptist.àThis recalls that the church is dedicated to the Immaculate and to two saints named John (as also attested by an epigraph inside).àAlso in the façade there are two coats of arms with the lamb and the eagle that allude to the two saints. The interior formsàa Greek Crossà(while the ancient church had three naves), with a hemispherical dome.àThe church leads to an atrium, above which there is the choir.àNothing remains of the ancient interior decoration;àonly works from theàeighteenthàandànineteenth centuriesàare exhibited, mostly by unknown or uncertain authors.àThe altarpiece depicting theàMadonna among the Evangelist and Baptist dominates.