Church of St. Stephan (Rome)

 church, Roman Catholic church

Santo Stefano degli Abissini(St Stephen's of the Abyssinians ), is the national church of Ethiopia. The liturgy is celebrated according to the Alexandrine rite of the Ethiopian Coptic Catholic Church.
The church was built by Pope Leo III (795–816), and named Santo Stefano Maggiore. It stands above the ruins of a pagan temple dedicated to Vesta, and was orinally built as a circular building with twenty Corinthian columns, which is a common plan for a temple of Vesta.
It was rebuilt in 1159 under Pope Alexander III, who also built a monastery for Ethiopian monks next to it.
In 1479, Pope Sixtus IV restored the church and assigned it to the Coptic monks in the city. It was at this time that the name was changed to reflect that it was served by Ethiopians (Abyssianians).

It was altered under Pope Gregory XI (1700–1721), and again in 1928.