Chiesa evangelica metodista in Castro Pretorio

The Methodist Church stands on the area devastated by the 1881 town-planning scheme, which provided for the destruction of pre-existing buildings along Strada Pia and the construction of new buildings along what is now called Via XX Settembre. In 1884, a number of sacred buildings were demolished, including the church of Santa Teresa and the adjoining monastery of the Discalced Carmelites; and the church of the Coronation and the adjoining monastery of the Carmelites of Santa Maria Maddalena de' Pazzi. The following year, the church of San Caio, adjacent to the Ministry of Defence then under construction, was demolished. The building that houses the Methodist Church in Via XX Settembre (on the corner of the newly-formed Via Firenze) was built on this site.
After the unification of Italy and the annexation of Rome to the kingdom, many evangelical Protestant churches tried to settle in Rome: so did the Anglicans, Baptists, Lutherans, and also the Methodists. On 30 May 1891, the Reverend William Burt, head of the Methodist church in Italy, purchased the land on which the church of San Caio had previously stood and commissioned architects Rodolfo Buti and Carlo Busiri Vici to design and build the Methodist building which, in addition to the temple, was also to house the theological school, administrative offices and the boarding school. The foundation stone of the new building was laid in September 1893, and two years later, on 20 September 1895, the palace and the annexed temple were officially inaugurated.
Externally, the building is in 16th century style, in ashlar with high pilasters on all floors, and several mullioned windows on the ground floor. The entrance portal, preceded by a gate, faces Via XX Settembre and is surmounted by a tympanum supported by columns.
The interior of the temple has a rectangular plan, with a horseshoe-shaped women's gallery and a ceiling with circular motifs inserted in panels; it is also marked by lateral pilasters in Corinthian style resting on a high base, and by round mullioned windows with two lights. The pipe organ is the work of Carlo Vegezzi-Bossi who built it in 1895; electrified in 1980, it has 13 registers on two manuals and pedal.
In 1924, Paolo Paschetto was commissioned to decorate the walls and make the interior stained-glass windows; these take up themes and symbols dear to the Christian iconographic tradition, such as the christogram, the dove, the lily, the lamb, the lamp, the palm, the peacock, the ship, etc. In 1930, the pulpit was built.