Santa Maria del Buon Aiuto, Renaissance church in Anfiteatro Castrense, Rome, Italy.

Santa Maria del Buon Aiuto is a Renaissance church located within the ancient walls of the Anfiteatro Castrense in Rome. It displays 15th-century construction techniques and design features typical of Roman religious buildings, with traditional stonework and interior spatial arrangements.

Pope Sixtus IV founded the oratory in 1476, as the inscription above the entrance door records: "Sixtus IV fundavit MCCCCLXXVI". It replaced the older church of Santa Maria de Oblationario, also called de Spazolaria, which Sixtus IV had demolished; the new building was later entrusted to the Confraternity of Santa Maria del Buon Aiuto, formerly dependent on the Cistercians of Santa Croce. It was restored in 1836 and in 1880.

The name Buon Aiuto ("Good Help") comes from the tradition that Sixtus IV, caught in a storm, took shelter under the shrine holding the Madonna fresco and invoked her aid. The church is cared for by the Confraternity of Santa Maria del Buon Aiuto, formerly dependent on the Cistercians of Santa Croce. The venerated image is the 1476 Virgin and Child attributed to Antoniazzo Romano, moved here from its roadside shrine.

The oratory stands on Piazza Santa Croce in Gerusalemme, against the Aurelian Walls and the Anfiteatro Castrense, and depends on the adjoining Basilica di Santa Croce in Gerusalemme. The entrance is a single door with a travertine architrave beneath a small bell gable, so look for the inscription "Sixtus IV fundavit MCCCCLXXVI" above it. It is a small chapel rather than a parish church, so check opening times before crossing the city.

What makes this church noteworthy is how it sits completely integrated within the ancient Roman military walls of the Anfiteatro Castrense. This layering of Renaissance religious architecture upon a surviving Roman imperial military building creates a rare historical overlap at the site.