Sala Santa Rita

The Sala Santa Rita was formely the Church of Santa Rita di Cascia, originally erected in the vicinity of the celebrated Aracoeli staircase on the site of the medieval church of “San Biagio de Mercato” or "de Mercatello" in the heart of Rome, a Baroque church with an octagonal ground plan now situated opposite the Theatre of Marcellus.

It was built c. 1653 to a design by architect Carlo Fontana who devised a unique perspective arrangement for his façade that offers the observer a diagonal rather than a full-frontal view of the building. The small church was dismantled in 1928 to make way for the Monument to Victor Emmanuel and was then rebuilt in its current location in 1937-40.

Since 2004, after a thorough maintenance program, the Hall has been an atmospheric multifunctional space devoted to contemporary art, hosting site-specific exhibitions in which artists interact with Carlo Fontana’s charming architecture to produce projects enhancing the original structure.