Santa Teresa d'Avila

In the area where the Orti Sallustiani stood in imperial times and where Saints Ciriaco, Largo and Smaragdo were beheaded, the foundation stone of the church was laid on 1 January 1901. The church was commissioned by the General of the Order of Discalced Carmelites, Fr Bernardino di S. Teresa and built by the architect. Tullio Passarelli. In the following year, on 19 April 1902, the Carmelite Cardinal, Girolamo M. Gotti, consecrated the church dedicated to St. Teresa of Avila. On 6 January 1906, Pope St. Pius X erected it into a Parish, one of the first in the Carmelite Order, while on 29 October 1951, Pope Pius XII elevated it to Basilica Minor.The façade is in the Lombard Romanesque-Gothic style with an imposing bronze portal (1983) by Brother Serafino Melchiorre, a Discalced Carmelite, depicting the stages of St. Teresa's sacramental life and the fundamental passages of her works. A 40-metre high bell tower with three-mullioned windows and travertine columns stands out elegantly in front of the Aurelian Wall.
The church has three naves with a length of 62 metres, a width of 25 metres and a height of 27 metres. The vault is cross-vaulted. The imposing high altar, on which the marble statue of St. Theresa is placed, stands out. The large presbytery area was adapted according to the liturgical reform desired by the Second Vatican Council.On the side walls, eight altars depict Carmelite saints, among which the one dedicated to St Theresa of the Child Jesus, all in mosaic by Castaman of Venice, is noteworthy. In the right aisle, the simulacrum of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, a polychrome wooden statue reproducing the one venerated on Mount Carmel, and a bronze crucifix by Pietro Tacca (1577-1650) are the highlights. In the left aisle, on the other hand, is the beautiful baptismal font, next to which is the papal robe that adorned the remains of Pius X on the day of his beatification (1951).
Three saints have visited the parish basilica: St John XXIII, Blessed Teresa of Calcuttta and St John Paul II. Lastly, in 2012, the remains of Lelia and Ulisse Amendolagine, servants of God, a couple who lived in the parish and whose beatification process is now in its diocesan phase, were transferred.