Santa Maria Maddalena delle Convertite, Site of a former church in the Colonna district, Rome, Italy
Santa Maria Maddalena delle Convertite was a church located at Via del Corso at its intersection with Via delle Convertite in central Rome. The structure no longer exists today, replaced by the Palazzo Marignoli at number 180.
The church was originally named Santa Lucia della Colonna and first appeared in written records in 1228. It was later dedicated to the convent and underwent several transformations before its eventual demolition.
The nuns followed the Rule of Saint Augustine and were called Sorelle della Penitenza. The first group came from Santa Marta al Collegio Romano, where Ignatius of Loyola had founded a brotherhood for married women. The convent was funded partly by a collection box at Ponte Milvio inscribed "Per le povere convertite".
The church stood on the south corner of Via del Corso and Via delle Convertite, a street name that still recalls the monastery. When Palazzo Marignoli was built between 1878 and 1883, the facade line was set back to widen the Corso, so most of the church's footprint now lies beneath the roadway. Look for the street sign of Via delle Convertite beside the palazzo.
The church's altarpiece, Guercino's "Mary Magdalene in Penitence", shows the saint weeping over one of the nails of the Crucifixion held out by an angel. It stood in a side chapel before being moved to the high altar in the mid-18th century, and it is now in the Vatican Museums. An earlier altarpiece was an Assumption of Mary by Il Morazzone.
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