Santa Maria in Monserrato degli Spagnoli

Santa Maria in Monserrato degli Spagnoli ("Saint Mary of Montserrat of the Spaniards") is the Spanish National church in Rome.

History

The present church was founded in 1803-1807, by uniting the staff of two different churches, the 15th century church of San Giacomo degli Spagnoli in Piazza Navona, which at the time was crumbling, and that of "Santa Maria in Monferrato", which from medieval times had served and housed mainly indigent Spanish pilgrims to Rome. Many of the works from San Giacomo degli Spagnoli were also transferred to the latter.

Architecture

The church was initially designed by Antonio da Sangallo the Younger and work proceeded over centuries under the direction, among others, of Bernardino Valperga and Francesco da Volterra. The site was chosen in 1518, the façade by da Volterra being erected 1582-1593, the altar consecrated in 1594, and the roof finished in 1598. The apse was completed only in 1675, when a new main altar was consecrated. The external sculptural group (1673-1675) was executed by Giovanni Battista Contini. A complete renovation took place from 1818-1822.

Interior

The frescoes of "Dormition of the Virgin" (1683) over the main right central Chapel are by Francesco Nappi, while on the left is a "Coronation of the Virgin" (1627) by Giovanni Battista Ricci. In the niches above the lateral doors are statues of two Aragonese saints (1816), "St. Isabel of Portugal" and "St. Peter Arbués", by the Aragonese sculptor Juan Adàn.

The first to the right, built in 1590, contains a canvas of "St. Diego of Alcantara" by Annibale Carracci. To the right is a mausoleum (1889) of the Borgia popes Calixtus III and Alexander VI, by Felipe Moratilla. Below is the now-empty cenotaph for the King of Spain, Alfonso XIII, whose remains were repatriated in 1980 and placed in the royal mortuary of the Escorial.

The second chapel on the right has works by Francesco Nappi, including the "Annunciation" altarpiece and the wall frescoes of the "Birth" and "Assumption of the Virgin". The tombs of Spanish ambassadors to Rome are below.

In the center of the presbytery's apse is the canvas of "The Crucifixion" (1564-1565), painted by Girolamo Siciolante da Sermoneta.

The third Chapel to the left contains Jacopo Sansovino's statue of the "St. James the Great" (patron of Spain), moved here in 1882. It had been commissioned by the cardinal Juame Serra (c. 1517) for his chapel in Santiago, Spain. Nearby is the tomb of the bishops "Alfonso de Paradinas" and "Juan de Fuensalida" (1503) attributed to Andrea Bregno.