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Santa Maria Regina della Famiglia

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Santa Maria Regina della Famiglia

Santa Maria Regina della Famiglia, Baroque revival church in Vatican City.

Maria, Madre della Famiglia is a neo-baroque church in the Vatican Gardens, behind St. Peter's Basilica and next to the Governatorato Palace, to which it is linked by a glazed portico. Its south-facing facade has a triangular pediment on two Corinthian pilasters, a brick wall with travertine details, and a large lunette window. Inside, a single nave of three bays has a barrel vault with lunettes and six side chapels.

Pope Pius XI commissioned architect Giuseppe Momo to build the chapel in 1926 as part of a new home for the Pontificio Seminario Romano Minore. After the 1929 Lateran Pacts the palace became the seat of the Governorate of Vatican City, and the chapel, dedicated to Saint Martha, served it. In 2007, after restoration, Benedict XVI had it retitled Maria, Madre della Famiglia and Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone dedicated it on 13 September.

The church was dedicated to Saint Martha until 2007, when Benedict XVI renamed it Maria, Madre della Famiglia; the Italian sources note that "Santa Maria Regina della Famiglia" is not the correct title. The five side chapels hold paintings by Antonio Soranzo from 1928, and the altarpiece is a Virgin and Child with Saints Joachim and Anne by Francesco Melanzio, brought from Montefalco in 2007.

The chapel stands in the Vatican Gardens at Largo San Matteo, beside the Palazzo del Governatorato and behind St. Peter's Basilica, near the railway station and the Leonine Walls. A glazed portico on columns links it to the palace. The Diocese treats it as a private chapel, so it is not a stop on standard visitor routes.

The facade's tympanum holds a Baroque coat of arms with festoons, now bearing the arms of Pope Pius XI; its style suggests it may come from the demolished church of Santa Marta. The large window above the door is made of selenite, a mineral related to alabaster that turns translucent when cut into thin layers.

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Inception
1926
Architects
Giuseppe Momo
Architectural style
baroque revival
GPS coordinates
41.90233,12.45086
Latest update
October 26, 2026 04:49
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« Santa Maria Regina della Famiglia - Baroque revival church in Vatican City » is provided by Around Us (aroundus.com). Images and texts are derived from Wikimedia project under a Creative Commons license. You are allowed to copy, distribute, and modify copies of this page, under the conditions set by the license, as long as this note is clearly visible.

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