Chiesa di Santa Rita da Cascia alle Vergini

The history of this church is complex. It was built in 1615 under the title of St Mary of the Virgins on the site of a pre-existing church of the same name and entrusted to the care of the Augustinian nuns of the nearby college of Our Lady of Refuge; it was then immediately rebuilt (1634-1636) because it was too small for the needs of the college; in 1660, the nunnery was finally completed under the direction of architect Domenico Castelli. The church, together with the monastery, remained with the Augustinian nuns until 1870, when it was confiscated by the Italian State, along with the monastery, deconsecrated and turned into the headquarters of the Intendenza di Finanza.

In 1904, when the church of St Rita of Cascia in Campitelli, on the slopes of the Capitoline Hill, was dismantled for the construction of the monument to Victor Emmanuel II, the temple was reopened to the public to house the Confraternity of the Holy Thorn of the Crown of Our Lord Jesus Christ and of St Rita of Cascia, which had its ancient seat there; thus the church was re-consecrated and dedicated to St Rita of Cascia.
The church façade (1681) is attributed to Mattia de Rossi, while the bell tower was added in 1689.

The interior of the church is in the form of a Greek cross, with decoration from the Baroque period; the fresco in the dome depicting the Glory of Paradise is attributed to Michelangelo Ricciolini; there is a carved and gilded wooden organ in the counter façade; to the left of the entrance is the Lourdes chapel built in the form of a grotto in 1912.

A project to modify the façade, with the introduction of a window in the side panels, was prepared by architect Alfredo Coacci in 1909 on behalf of the then Camerlengo of the Arciconfraternita di Santa Rita da Cascia, Domenico Consolini; although these windows served to give light and air to two of the church's service rooms, the project never seems to have been executed.