Basilica of Santa Maria in Aracoeli historical timeline

A church on the Capitol that served as Rome's civic meeting place, was turned into a stable, and nearly came down for the Vittoriano.

Chronology

1. 6th century — the basilica is erected on the ruins of the Temple of Juno Moneta, on the highest summit of the Capitol. Structural impact: a church on the citadel of ancient Rome. What you see today: the site, and the reason the approach is a climb.
2. Around the year 1000 — it becomes a Benedictine abbey. Structural impact: monastic buildings around the church. What you see today: the cloistered arrangement behind the basilica.
3. Afterwards — it passes to the Friars Minor, who still officiate there and who restructured it, giving it its present Romanesque-Gothic appearance. Structural impact: the church as it now stands. What you see today: the nave, the columns and the plan.
4. 1341 — Francesco Petrarca is crowned Poet here. Structural impact: none. What you see today: the civic role the building had acquired.
5. 1348 — the marble staircase of 124 steps is commissioned as a vow to the Virgin for the end of the plague epidemic raging across Europe, built with marble from the staircase of the Temple of Serapis on the Quirinal, and inaugurated by the tribune Cola di Rienzo. Structural impact: the monumental approach. What you see today: the climb, and a stair treated as a Scala Santa.
6. The Middle Ages — councillors gather here to discuss the Res Publica, a sort of new forum of Rome; Cola di Rienzo speaks to the people from here; the elections of the Caporioni are held here. Structural impact: none. What you see today: a church that was also a council chamber.
7. 1797 — under the French occupation and the Republic, the church is deconsecrated and used as a stable. Structural impact: loss and damage to fittings. What you see today: the reason some of the interior is later than it looks.
8. End of Napoleonic Rome — the church is rehabilitated. Structural impact: restoration to religious use. What you see today: a functioning basilica again.
9. After 1870 — it barely escapes the demolition works for the construction of the Vittoriano. Structural impact: the ground beside it is cleared and rebuilt. What you see today: a medieval basilica pressed against a vast white monument.
10. 1994 — the Santo Bambino is stolen, and has never been found. Structural impact: none. What you see today: the most important thing about this church is the thing that is missing from it.

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