Nostra Signora de La Salette
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| Nostra Signora de La Salette | |
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| English name: | Our Lady of La Salette |
| Dedication: | Blessed Virgin Mary (Our Lady of La Salette) |
| Denomination: | Roman Catholic |
| Built: | Early 20th century (1st), 1965 (2nd) |
| Contact data | |
| Address: | Piazza Madonna de La Salette |
Nostra Signora de La Salette is a modern parish and titular church at Piazza Madonna de La Salette 1, south of the Villa Doria Pamphilj in the Gianicolense district. Pictures of the church at Wikimedia Commons. [1]
The parish is administered by the Missionaries of Our Lady of La Salette, whose Generalate is here. The congregation derives ultimately from a series of visions in 1846 of Our Lady at a village called La Salette near Grenoble in France. Hence the name of the church is spelt “de La”, not “della”, as is that of the Piazza.
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Old Church
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There are actually two churches. From the piazza, one can see the façade of the former church next to the building of the Generalate, which was founded in 1896. It has a rectangular plan with a circular apse and two aisles, and the façade is visible from the gate in the piazza. The body of the church is in brick, but the façade is dominated by a large white rectangular panel which incorporates the entrance door and which protrudes above the horizontal line of the rest of the frontage. There is a central porthole window, over which is superimposed a large white cross which extends to the door below and to the top of the façade above and spans the panel. This church temporarily became parochial in 1957, but was entirely inadequate and was replaced by the new church which was completed in 1965. It is now again the private chapel of the Generalate.
New Church, ExteriorEdit
The new church, not easily visible from the piazza (it's up the drive on the left), was designed by Viviana Rizzi and Ennio Canino. The spectacular and complex plan derives from a square with two three-quarter cylinder extensions on the corners nearest the high altar. Over this is superimposed a shape like that of a club in a pack of cards, which is preserved in the form of the roof and which gives an apse behind the high altar and two on either side. This part of the roof is raised to make room for skylights. The building is of reinforced concrete with the enclosing walls in blank red brick, and there is a monumental two-storey entrance approached by a staircase. The actual entrance loggia is sheltered by a massive concrete slab canopy supported by a very large central pillar, while above there are three rectangular sets of vertical strip windows placed together, the central one being taller and narrower than the symmetrical outer ones and projecting above the main roofline. The central windows have a projecting triangular gabled canopy supported by two thin concrete pillars, and the same pillars support a floating platform bearing a statue of Our Lady of La Salette. The soaring detached campanile is on a triangular plan, formed from three unadorned triangular concrete pillars conjoined.
New Church, InteriorEdit
The rather shadowy interior is dominated by the curving walls in concrete. The apse contains a large wooden crucifix, and on either side are stained glass windows in dark blue and white with a pattern of geometric shapes evoking the cross.
