Nostra Signora di Valme, Catholic church in Portuense district, Rome, Italy
Nostra Signora di Valme is a Catholic church in the Portuense district with large windows that flood the interior with natural light and create bright areas throughout the space. The main altar holds a statue of the Virgin of Valme, linking this Roman church to its Spanish namesake.
The parish was established on 28 February 1982 by vicar cardinal Ugo Poletti with the decree "A tutti è nota". The church, designed by architect Spina, was inaugurated on 23 March 1996 by cardinal Camillo Ruini. Pope John Paul II visited it on 15 December 1996, according to the Italian source; the Portuguese source gives 16 December.
The church takes its name from a Spanish sanctuary in Dos Hermanas, Andalusia, where 'Valme' means 'help me' in local speech. This connection to a distant place shows how religious devotion travels across borders.
The church stands at Via di Vigna Due Torri 82 in the Portuense district, a low concrete building set back under a flat overhanging roof. The entrance front is a wide band of dark glass panes between grey vertical supports, so the doorway is easy to miss from the street. Look for the thin metal cross on the roofline to identify it.
The high altar holds a statue of the Virgin of Valme, but it replaced an icon of the same Virgin during a recent renovation. Below the statue stands a white marble tabernacle in the Cosmatesque style. A large stained-glass window with jagged edges and a vaguely medieval design lights both.
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