Santa Maria della Misericordia al Verano

Santa Maria della Misericordia al Verano is a church located in the huge municipal cemetery of Campo di Verano. The cemetery of Campo di Verano was originally founded by Napoleon's French invaders, who issued an edict in 1804 banning the ancient burial practices in the city. Having not evolved since the Middle Ages, they were rightly considered too unhealthy. Pope Pius IX (1846-1878) commissioned Virginio Vespignani to design the cemetery and oversee the construction of the main architectural elements. The church was completed in 1862.

About this building

Key Features

  • Architecture

Visitors information

  • Bus stop within 100m
  • Car park at the building

Other nearby buildings

Wikimedia Commons/Livioandronico2013

Basilica di San Lorenzo fuori le mura

The Basilica of St. Lawrence Outside the Walls was founded in the early 4th century by Emperor Constantine on the presumed site of the martyrdom of St. Lawrence, who died in 258. In the 13th century, Pope Honorius III built a separate church, which was eventually joined to the old one during a renovation programme. From 1374 to 1847, the Basilica of Saint Lawrence Outside the Walls was the residence of the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem. The basilica was restored by the architect Virginio Vespignani from 1855 to 1864, who removed all the Baroque additions. On 19 July 1943, during the Second World War, the church was bombed by the Allies. The restoration lasted until 1948: the façade was rebuilt, but the frescoes on the upper parts of the façade were lost. The basilica houses the tomb of the statesman and father of Europe Alcide De Gasperi and five popes: Zosimus, Sixtus III, Hilary, Damasus II and Pius IX.

Wikimedia Commons/Croberto68

Chiesa dei Santi Sette Fondatori

The Church of the Seven Holy Founders was built between 1946 and 1956 to a design by the architect Alberto Tonelli, and is dedicated to the Seven Holy Founders, Florentine devotees of the 13th century who were at the origin of the Servite order. The church has a dodecagonal plan. On the outside, it has two orders: the lower order covered in white marble, and the upper order in masonry crossed by vertical ribs in reinforced concrete and crowned by a series of windows with polychrome glass.

Wikimedia Commons/Beatrice

Chiesa di San Leone I

The church of San Leone I was built according to a project by the architect Giuseppe Zander between 1950 and 1952. The façade of the church is in brick with travertine portals and sculptures by Luigi Venturini; a rose window is inserted in the upper part. The interior has a nave and two aisles divided by concrete columns supporting the ceiling, also in concrete.