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Typology: Municipal space

Address

Address: Via Montanara, 8
Zone: Rione Campitelli (Foro Romano- Campidoglio-P.Venezia) (Roma centro)

Contacts

Opening times

For the opening times and guidelines please check the official website.

Information

Modalità di partecipazione: Free entrance

Description

The Church of Santa Rita di Cascia, originally erected in the vicinity of the celebrated Aracoeli staircase on the site of the medieval church of "San Biagio de Mercato" or "de Mercatello" in the heart of Rome, is a Baroque church with an octagonal ground plan now situated opposite the Theatre of Marcellus.
It was built c. 1653 to a design by the architect Carlo Fontana who devised a unique perspective arrangement for his façade that offers the observer a diagonal rather than a full-frontal view of the building. It was dedicated to St. Rita, an Augustinian nun from Cascia who died in 1447, on account both of her popularity in Rome following her beatification in 1627, and of the fact that the Sodality of the Casciani had taken over the church of San Biagio in 1655.
Under Pope Alexander VII Chigi (1655–67) the church was assigned to a confraternity known as the "Confraternity of the Holy Thorn of the Crown of Our Lord Jesus Christ" which occupied the premises until 1904.

The small church was then dismantled in 1928 to make way for the Monument to Victor Emmanuel and after Giovannoni's initial plan to rebuild it at the foot of the Capitol Hill was discarded, it was rebuilt in its current location in 1937–40 following the "liberation" and renovation of the Theatre of Marcellus (an operation which began in 1926) and the demolition of Piazza Montanara.

After reconstruction the church looked isolated and its north side was on show, prompting the completion of that side with architectural elements copied from the façade, which has kept its original aspect consisting of two orders of Corinthian pilasters linked by hills – an allusion to the Chigi family crest – set on the corners in place of the more traditional volutes.

The lower order comprises three blind arcades with perspective arches, while the upper order with a pediment has arcades of the same type, one in the centre and one on either corner.
The interior of the church is an octagon preceded by a small atrium flanked by two rectangular spaces. A barrel vault with lunettes, stucco string courses and Corinthian pilasters on the walls adorn its surfaces.
After reconstruction, the exterior of the religious complex was restored from top to bottom to coincide with Holy Year 1950.

In 1952 the building was entrusted to the Congregazione della Piccola Opera della Divina Provvidenza founded by Don Orione, returning in 1990 to the Comune di Roma which used it for exhibitions and cultural events until its closure for restoration and consolidation in 2001.

The monumental complex comprising the former Church of Santa Rita was the object of a thorough maintenance programme lasting from 1999 to mid-2003 when the exterior, the room on the ground floor and the upper rooms were renovated.

Since 2004 the Hall has been an atmospheric multifunctional space devoted to contemporary art, hosting site-specific exhibitions in which artists interact with Carlo Fontana's charming architecture to produce projects enhancing the original structure as well as sound installations, performances, concerts, debates on art and culture in general.

Last checked: 2022-02-10 15:42