Churches of Rome Wiki
Register
Advertisement

Santissimo Crocifisso a Torrevecchia is a late 20th century convent and public chapel, dependent on the parish of Santa Maria della Presentazione. It is located at Via Don Carlo Gnocchi 75.

History

The site concerned is bounded on the east side by the new street of Via Don Carlo Gnocchi, and on the west side by the older one of Via Belvedere Montello.

From 1969, this plot contained two convents. One was of Passionist nuns (Suore Passioniste di San Paolo della Croce), which was at number 70. The other was at number 77, and was the Generalate of the Pia Società Torinese di San Giuseppe, known as the Josephites or Giuseppini. A chapel dedicated to the Holy Cross was attached to the latter.

However, in 1990 there was a major redevelopment. The Passionist nuns set up the Generalate of their congregation here, with a new chapel amounting to a small church, and the Josephites moved out. In 2015 the Casa di Riposo Mater Amabilis was founded as part of the complex, which is a dedicated nursing-home run by the nuns.

The chapel is also used for public Masses, and has been referred to as the Chiesa della Santissimo Crocifisso. Since the Passionist nuns count as a monastic congregation this could be argued for, but the Diocese has not listed the building as a church. (On the other hand, it does not seem to have noticed the 1990 change for its website yet.)

Appearance

You can see this chapel or church from the street outside.

The plan is octagonal, and the design is dominated by the roof. Piers each formed of two thin concrete slabs, flaring out at the top, support roof ribs which enclose equilateral triangular pitches on the diagonal sides. The top points of these touch an octagonal cupola at four angles, where concrete ribs widening towards the top meet at a cross finial. The other four angles of the cupola have no ribs The two roof pitches at the altar and the convent entrance sides opposite are rectangular (except at their tops, where they meet at cupola angles). The pitches over the final two sides are gabled.

The roof is in metal sheeting, with a deep set of eaves.

The convent entrance side, where you would expect the main entrance, abuts directly onto a wing of the convent. The public entrance is actually under the left hand gable. The altar end has a rectangular apse, as high as the roofline.

The walls are in blank pinkish-yellow brick. Apart from the apse, each wall section is chamfered along its side edges and has a window strip between the edge and the adjacent corner pilaster. The corners of the chamfered are in decorative brick dentillations, created by not cutting the corners off the bricks fitting together at the oblique angle.

The public entrance has a floating canopy which is a flat square black slab with the corners chamfered. Above it, a large window fits into the gable.

Inside, the interior walls are in the same brick as the outside. The strip windows are in mostly red stained glass, with a flame motif.

Liturgy

Mass is celebrated publicly at 9:15 on Sundays and Solemnities (9:30 in summer). There is no weekday public Mass.

External links

Info.roma web-page

Youtube video

Advertisement