Santi Angeli Custodi a Città Giardino explained

Santi Angeli Custodi
Other Name:Santi Angeli Custodi a Città Giardino
Native Name:Chiesa dei Santi Angeli Custodi
Native Name Lang:it
Pushpin Map:Rome
Coordinates:41.9359°N 12.5358°W
Location:Via delle Alpi Apuane 1, Rome
Country:Italy
Denomination:Roman Catholic
Tradition:Latin Rite
Religious Institute:Clerics Regular Minor
Former Names:-->
Founder:Pope Benedict XV
Style:Baroque Revival
Groundbreaking:1922
Completed Date:1925
Materials:travertine
Bells Hung:-->
Diocese:Rome

Santi Angeli Custodi (Holy Guardian Angels),[1] church[2] on Via Alpi Apuane, Rome.

History

The church was built as a parochial church in 1922 in a new quarter of the city, the Città Giardino, on orders from Pope Benedict XV, to a design by Gustavo Giovannoni. The Clerics Regular Minor, founded by St Francesco Caracciolo and also known as the Caracciolini Fathers, started working in the area on 7 April that year, and on 8 December the church was consecrated and granted to them by Pope Pius XI. Six years later, in 1926, it was formally established as a parish.

It was built in a Neo-Classical style, inspired by the Italian Renaissance, with a staircase in front of the façade, a travertine doorway, a single nave with side chapels, and a basilical baldachino. The church's dome is decorated with frescoes by Aronne del Vecchio, painted in 1961, of The Angels in Paradise with the Most Holy Trinity and the Blessed Virgin. (with pendants of The Evangelists) who also made an image of The Deposition for the entrance to the sacristy and of The Birth of the Saviour for the church's side entrance. The high altarpiece is a copy of Guercino's St Michael the Archangel from San Pietro in Vaticano.

In the Piazza Sempione outside the church is a statue of the Immaculate Conception by Gino Giammei, made in 1949.

Chapels

On the south side are

In the Chapel of St Francis Caracciolo is a painting by Romano Coradetti depicting Saints in Adoration of the Blessed Eucharist.

Cardinal-deacons

Notes and References

  1. The church was dedicated to the Guardian Angels because of its founder Pius's particular devotion to them, and in memory of the demolished church of Sant'Angelo Custode al Tritone
  2. Of titular status since Pope Paul VI made it a cardinal-deaconry in 1965, appointing Alfredo Pacini as its first cardinal occupant (assigning this church as a title) in 1967.