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All images © by Roberto Piperno, owner of the domain. Write to romapip@quipo.it. Text edited by Rosamie Moore.
To the Italian visitors of my web site

Collegio de' Neofiti (Book 9) (Day 3) (Map B3) (Rione Monti)

In this page:
 The plate by Giuseppe Vasi
 Today's view
 S. Maria a' Monti
 Collegio de' Neofiti

The Plate (No. 169)

The College (as the name says Neofiti = Neophytes) was founded to host those who had just been converted: apparently and according to Vasi, Jews, Turks and Moors were housed here. The view is taken from the green dot in the 1748 map below. In the description below the plate Vasi made reference to: 1) S. Maria ai Monti; 2) Collegio de' Neofiti; 3) S. Salvatore ai Monti; 4) Small alley leading to a Franciscan nunnery (today lost).

Small ViewSmall View

Today

The view today

The area is untouched since Vasi's time; also the minor buildings seem exactly the same.

The Church

The Church


S. Maria ai Monti was built during the pontificate of Pope Gregorius XIII and retains the original coat of arms of the pope. It was designed by Giacomo della Porta.
You may wish to see the church as it appeared in a 1588 Guide to Rome.

Collegio de' Neofiti

Collegio de' Neofiti


The Collegio (designed by Gaspare de' Vecchi) was built by Cardinal Antonio Barberini and the family symbols (the bees and the sun) can still be seen over the entrance (in the background) and under the roof. The cardinal and his brother Maffeo (Pope Urbanus VIII) are portrayed in the relief above the dedicatory inscription.

S. Salvatore ai Monti and Innocentius XI


The College has also a little chapel: S. Salvatore ai Monti (image on the left). Pope Innocentius XI added a section for women on the back of this building with a separate oratory (image on the right). A little shop for motorbike repairs is under the protection of his many heraldic symbols (six lamps, the lion, the eagle).

Excerpts from Giuseppe Vasi 1761 Itinerary related to this page:


... si vede a sinistra l'antica chiesa di s. Salvatore ai Monti, che è unita al collegio, e alla
Chiesa di s. Maria de' Monti
Questa fu eretta circa l'anno 1579. con disegno di Giacomo della Porta, per un miracolo qui occorso, colle limosine de' fedeli, e prese un tal nome perchè sta in mezzo a tre monti. Essa è ornata di marmi, stucchi dorati, e molte pitture; quelle della prima cappella a destra dedicata a s. Carlo, sono di Giovanni da s. Giovanni, le nozze di Cana in Galilea, che si vedono sopra la porta, sono del Cav. Guidotti; la Pietà nella cappella, che siegue, è copia di Lorenzo da Bologna, e la Flagellazione è di Lattanzio Bolognese; il portar la Croce, del Nogari, e la Resurrezione con altre pitture a fresco sono di Gio: Batista Lombardelli della Marca. Le pitture nell'altare maggiore e cupola sono di Cristoforo Consolano, l'incoronazione della ss. Vergine, e la visitazione di s Elisabetta sono di Baldassarino da Bologna. L'Assunzione è del Cav. Guidotti; la Natività del Mumari; le pitture nella volta del Nogari; e le altre sono di Cesare Nebbia; la ss. Nunziata nell'ultima cappella, ed il resto sono di Durante Alberti, e le pitture nella volta sono del suddetto Consolano.
Collegio per li Neofiti, e Catecumeni
Da Urbano VIII. fu eretto questo collegio l'anno 1635. con disegno di Gaspare de' Vecchi, per istruirvi i Catecumeni, ed insegnare a Neofiti le lettere. Ultimamente poi la chiesa suddetta, ed il collegio furono conceduti con tutte le loro entrate ai Chierici Pii operarj.

Next plate in Book 9: Palazzo dell'Accademia di Francia
Next step in Day 3 itinerary: Piazza alli Monti
Next step in your tour of Rione Monti: Piazza alli Monti