Church of St Mary Magdalene. NEW PICTURES

If you are in Rome this year, we invite you to visit the Church of the Mother House of the Order of St. Camillus.

The Church is dedicated to St. Mary Magdalene and opens onto the small Piazza della Maddalena, not far from the Pantheon. The Relics of St. Camillus are venerated in the Church.

It is a small and delightful Church, built in the Baroque style and completed in 1699. It was censecrated in 1727.

Several architects were involved in its creation and it took around seventy years to complete. These included Carlo Fontana, who designed the Baptismal Font in St. Peter's Basilica. It is thought that he designed the Dome.

The architect of the Rococo Facade is not known for certain, although it displays motifs reminiscent of Borromini. The historian Alessandro Marino believes that it was Don Santos who produced the work. It was completed around 1735 but was critisised at the time as being too florid, it was known as "The Church of Sugar" because it reminded people of cake decorations! The Rococo style was not widely used in ecclesiastical architecture in Rome. The Organ too, with its elaborate gallery, is worth visiting; many organists of international repute choose to play the instrument when they are in Rome.

Both features, together with the intimate interior, make the church particularly worthy of a visit.

Here are a few images of the Church.

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