Church of Santa Maria del Buon Aiuto in the Anfiteatro Castrense

A tiny church stands nestled between the Aurelian Walls and the Amphitheatre Castrense, a stone's throw from the grandeur of the basilicas of the Holy Cross in Jerusalem and St John Lateran.

The inscription on the entrance portal - SIXTUS IIII FONDAVT MCCCCLXXVI - attributes its construction to Sixtus IV, born Francesco della Rovere (1471-84), one of the most important pontiffs in the history of Rome, a great innovator of the arts and letters, and the architect of the Renaissance face of the Eternal City: an enormous act of foresight and courage in a period of great social and cultural upheaval. In fact, it was he who commissioned the greatest architects and artists of the time to build jewel churches such as Santa Maria del Popolo and Santa Maria della Pace, of Sixtus Bridge, the most romantic of all those that cross the river Tiber, which gives a suggestive and privileged view of St. Peter's Dome, and the foundation, in 1471, of the first nucleus of the Capitoline Museums, the first public museum in the world.

A visionary pope, therefore, a lover of grandeur and opulence, of monumental works built without sparing any expense, so much so that his successor, Sixtus V, found himself in debt.

So why, among so many grandiose masterpieces, does Sixtus IV erect this little church of little pretension and yet in a place where it can surely go unnoticed in the busy city traffic?

The story goes that during the short one-kilometre journey the pope was making between the basilicas of Saint John Lateran and the Holy Cross in Jerusalem, a thunderstorm broke out and he found himself in the middle of a veritable water bomb with lightning and thunderbolts, so much so that he feared for his life. So it was that to seek protection he went to take shelter under a sacred shrine, invoking, as a fervent Marian, the help of the Madonna who was portrayed there.

When the danger had escaped, Sixtus IV had the ancient frescoed image of Mary removed from the shrine and ordered the building of a church dedicated to her with the title of Good Help (or Rescue).

Since then, the church of St Mary of Good Help in the Castrense Amphitheatre has venerated the sweet image of the Virgin and Child, which, placed on the altar of the small place of worship, is commonly attributed to Antoniazzo Romano, one of the most representative painters of the Roman Renaissance school.

Situated at the top of a short staircase with a balustrade, the church, an oratory, has simple, linear architecture. The façade has a door built into a travertine lintel and a window; the gabled roof is adorned, on the left, by a small bell tower erected in the 19th century.

Above the lintel, a second inscription reads: ‘In this holy place we pray to God for the souls in Purgatory in the holy memory of Sixtus IV’, while above the window, the coat of arms of Pope Sixtus IV can be seen.

The interior has a rectangular floor plan with a cross vault that develops from polygonal half-pillars crowned by Corinthian capitals.

In order to build the church, Pope Sixtus IV had the ancient church Santa Maria de Oblationario demolished, so called because it was maintained by the oblations of the faithful: this was also known as Santa Maria de Spazolaria or Spezzellaria, as every evening the custodian would collect, by sweeping them, the offerings that the worshippers left on the floor.

The present building, which underwent restoration in 1836 and 1880, owes its care to the Confraternity of Santa Maria del Buon Aiuto.

Photo turismoroma