| Church of Our Lady of Mercy in the Teutonic Cemetery | |
|---|---|
Sancta Maria Pietatis in Coemeterio Teutonicorum(in Latin) Santa Maria della Pietà in Camposanto dei Teutonici(in Italian) | |
_-_Edificio_con_SM_in_Camposanto_teutonico.JPG) | |
 Click on the map for a fullscreen view | |
| 41°54′05″N12°27′17″E / 41.901255°N 12.454861°E /41.901255; 12.454861 | |
| Location | Piazza del S. Uffizio,Borgo,Rome |
| Country | Italy |
| Denomination | Roman Catholic |
| Tradition | Roman rite |
| Website | Official website |
| History | |
| Status | national Catholic church ofAustria,Germany, and theNetherlands |
| Dedication | Our Lady of Sorrows |
| Consecrated | 1500[1] |
| Architecture | |
| Architectural type | Church |
| Style | Baroque |
| Groundbreaking | 1450 |
| Completed | 15th century |
| Specifications | |
| Length | 30 metres (98 ft) |
| Width | 18 metres (59 ft) |
TheChurch of Our Lady of Mercy in the Teutonic Cemetery (Latin:Sancta Maria Pietatis in Coemeterio Teutonicorum,Italian:Santa Maria della Pietà in Camposanto dei Teutonici) is a Roman Catholic church in the rioneBorgo of Rome, Italy. It is located on the Via della Sagrestia.
The building lies near theVatican City, is attached and adjacent to theCollegio Teutonico, and theGermanTeutonic Cemetery inVatican City.
The site belonged to theSchola Francorum, a hospice forGerman pilgrims which was the oldestGerman institution in Rome.[2] The church, lying in piazza Protomartiri Romani, is in the area of thePalazzo del Sant'Uffizo, which belongs to Italy but according to theLateran treaty has an extraterritorial status in favour of the Holy See.
The term "Teutonico" is a reference to the Germanic peoples. The church is theNational Church in Rome ofAustria,Germany, and theNetherlands.
In 796Charlemagne, by permission ofPope Leo III, founded on ground adjoining this spot a hospice for pilgrims, which was intended for the people of his empire. In connection with the hospice was a church dedicated to the Saviour and a graveyard for the burial of the subjects of Charlemagne who died in Rome. From the beginning, this foundation was placed under the care of the ecclesiastical authorities of St Peter's. The decline, soon after this period, of the Carolingian empire, brought the hospice, theSchola Francorum, entirely under the jurisdiction of the basilica; at the same time, the original intent of a place for pilgrims and the poor was preserved. In the complete ruin which overtook Rome during theAvignon Papacy (1309–1378), and during the following decades of theWestern Schism, the ecclesiastical foundations in the vicinity of St. Peter's sank into decay.[3]
After the return of the popes, new life sprang up, and the enthusiasm for building and endowing foundations in the Borgo was rekindled under Popes Martin V, Eugenius IV, and Nicholas V. The remembrance of Charlemagne and his hospice revived in the mind of the large and influential German colony then residing at Rome, and during the reign ofMartin V (1417–1431) the enlarged cemetery was surrounded with a wall built by Fredericus Alemannus, who also erected a house for its guardians. During the plague outbreak of 1448, Johannis Assonensis, a German confessor attached to St. Peter's and laterBishop of Wurzburg, assembled his countrymen there and founded among them a brotherhood, the object of which was to provide suitable burial for all poor Germans dying in Rome. When the Holy Year 1450 brought many pilgrims to Rome, the brotherhood built a church, a new hospice for German pilgrims on the adjoining land, and developed the Campo Santo into a German national institution.[3]
In the 15th, 16th, and even in the 19th century the German nation was represented at Rome by numerous officials at the papal court and by guilds of German bakers, shoemakers, and weavers; in these ages Germans were to be found in every industry of ordinary life, and German bankers and inn-keepers were especially numerous. Nevertheless, the steadily decreasing German population of Rome during the 17th and 18th centuries caused the Campo Santo, as a national foundation, and the brotherhood to sink into neglect.[3]
The church was progressively eclipsed by the church ofSaint Maria dell' Anima. In 1876Pope Pius IX founded a seminary for German-speaking priests for the special study of archaeology and church history to replace theSchola Francorum. Today, the church is still an important gathering place for the German-speaking community in Rome.
The present church was built in 1501 and remodeled in 1972. Access to the Church (from the cemetery) is through a portal by sculptorElmar Hillebrand of Cologne, given in 1957 by the President of the Republic of GermanyTheodor Heuss.[4]
During theSack of Rome (1527), theSwiss Guard made their last stand in theTeutonic Cemetery, holding off the invading troops long enough for Pope Clement VII to escape over the Passetto di Borgo to Castel Sant'Angelo. The Chapel of the Swiss served as a burial place for the fallen guards.[4]
A guide from the early 19th century mentions a main altarpiece depicting aDeposition byPolidoro di Caravaggio, flanked by painting by Giacinto d'Hasse. This latter painter's tomb monument, located inside the church, was sculpted byFrancois Duquesnoy. The lateral altars housed aSt Erasmus byGiacinto Gimignani andEpiphany byScarsellino; the altar dedicated to St Charles Borromeo had an altarpiece depicting theFlight to Egypt byArrigo Fiammingo, a member of the Confraternity;St John Nepomunk byIgnazio Stern; and the sacristy held anImmaculate Conception byLuigi Garzi.[5]
This article incorporates text from this source, which is in thepublic domain.
