Santa Maria Immacolata all'Esquilino, Gothic Revival church near Via Emanuele Filiberto, Rome, Italy.
Santa Maria Immacolata all'Esquilino is a Gothic Revival church in the Esquilino neighborhood of Rome, close to Via Emanuele Filiberto. Its interior is divided into three naves by columns, and its facade is flanked by two low bell towers.
Construction began on 28 March 1901 for the Congregation of the Friars of Charity, the Bigi Fathers, founded in Naples in 1859 by Father Ludovico da Casoria. The design was by the Neapolitan architect Antonio Curri, with Luigi Cortesi directing the works. The first Mass was celebrated on 8 December 1914, but Cardinal Luigi Traglia consecrated the church only on 21 April 1942, as a plaque at the entrance records.
The entrance portal features a mosaic of the Immaculate Virgin wearing a cloak covered in stars, which greets visitors before they even step inside. This image reflects the deep Marian devotion that the surrounding neighborhood still maintains today.
The church sits in the Esquilino neighborhood and is easy to reach on foot from the Manzoni metro station on line B. Several bus lines also stop nearby, making it convenient to visit from different parts of the city.
During the Nazi occupation of Rome in the Second World War, the Bigi Fathers hid at least ten people in the unfinished attic between the vaults and the pitched roof, lit only by two windows on Via Galilei. Andrea Riccardi and Grazia Loparco document this in their studies of the period.
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