Santa Maria dei Miracoli, Baroque church at Piazza del Popolo, Rome, Italy
Santa Maria dei Miracoli is a baroque church with an octagonal dome and oval ground plan, built between 1675 and 1681. Ten statues of saints decorate the outer balustrade and give the building its distinctive appearance.
Cardinal Girolamo Gastaldi commissioned architect Carlo Rainaldi to build it starting in 1675, and Carlo Fontana took over to see it through completion in 1681. This handoff between two leading architects helped shape it into an important example of baroque building in Rome.
The building came about during a period when Rome was filling its streets with baroque churches designed to draw crowds and make an impression. It shows how religious spaces were created to be visually striking and memorable for anyone who passed by.
It sits at the meeting point of Via del Corso and Via di Ripetta, part of the well-known Trident street arrangement. You can find it easily since it occupies a central corner of the old city and is within easy walking distance of main landmarks.
The columns come from bell towers that were designed for Saint Peter's Basilica but never built, originally planned by Gian Lorenzo Bernini. These recycled materials connect it to one of the city's most significant architectural projects.
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