Chiesa di Santa Maria Annunziata a Tor de' Specchi, Medieval church near Teatro di Marcello, Rome, Italy

The chiesa di Santa Maria Annunziata a Tor de' Specchi stands in Rome's Campitelli district, its brick facade on Via del Teatro di Marcello showing a shallow gable, a circular opening with dark cylinders, and two round-headed arches divided by a carved colonnette. Inside, the upper church has a decorated wooden ceiling, an altarpiece of the Annunciation by Alessandro Allori, and side-wall frescoes of the Adoration of the Magi and the Adoration of the Shepherds.

The church was built in the 14th century and appears in documents from the time of Popes Boniface VIII and Clement VI. In 1433, it was given to the Oblates, who have maintained it as a monastery since then.

The name refers to the Annunciation, the feast on which Francesca of Rome founded the community on 25 March 1433. The twenty-five frescoes of her life, dated 1468 and attributed to Antoniazzo Romano, are in the oratory, not the church, and show her healing the sick, raising the dead and receiving the Child. The monastery opens to the public on her feast day, 9 March.

Access to the church is quite limited, and visits are possible only on a few specific days of the year. It is best to research or contact ahead to find out when a visit can be arranged.

The lower church, Santa Maria de Curte, keeps a relic of the ointment Saint Frances of Rome used to treat the sick and wounded. Its apse holds a painting of the Virgin and Child in a gilded frame. The medieval church of that name was demolished around 1614.