The Church of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary, better known as the Church of Santa Maria Maggiore, and also known as the Baroque church of the Jesuits, is a religious building located in Trieste, in the

province A province is an administrative division within a country or sovereign state, state. The term derives from the ancient Roman , which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire, Roman Empire's territorial possessions ou ...

and

diocese of Trieste The Diocese of Trieste () is a Latin diocese of the Catholic Church in the Triveneto. It has existed since no later than 524, and in its current form since 1977. The bishop's seat is in the Cathedral Basilica of Saint Justus Martyr. It is a suffr ...

; it is the seat of a parish included in the

deanery A deanery (or decanate) is an ecclesiastical entity in the Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox Church, the Anglican Communion, the Evangelical Church in Germany, and the Church of Norway. A deanery is either the jurisdiction or residence of ...

of San Giusto Martire. The

Baroque The Baroque ( , , ) is a Western Style (visual arts), style of Baroque architecture, architecture, Baroque music, music, Baroque dance, dance, Baroque painting, painting, Baroque sculpture, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished from ...

church was built in the 17th century by the

Jesuit The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...

company and has been managed by the

Franciscan friars The Franciscans are a group of related organizations in the Catholic Church, founded or inspired by the Italian saint Francis of Assisi. They include three independent religious orders for men (the Order of Friars Minor being the largest contem ...

since 1922. The church is located in via del Collegio, at the foot of the San Giusto hill and near the Basilica of Cristo Salvatore (formerly Basilica of San Silvestro), in the immediate vicinity of the historic center of

Trieste Trieste ( , ; ) is a city and seaport in northeastern Italy. It is the capital and largest city of the Regions of Italy#Autonomous regions with special statute, autonomous region of Friuli-Venezia Giulia, as well as of the Province of Trieste, ...

History

The history of the Church of Santa Maria Maggiore is closely linked to that of the Jesuit congregation of Trieste. In 1619 the first two Jesuits, Giuseppe Mezler and Gregorio Salateo, arrived in Trieste. Thanks to the good relationship with the government of the time, the order developed in a short time, so as to be able to commission the construction of a school. The Jesuit College is located next to the current church of Santa Maria Maggiore. The first rector of the church (1622–1630) was

Giacomo Rampelli Giacomo Rampelli (fl. 1620s) was an Istrian Italian Jesuit, who was the first rector of the Jesuit College of Trieste. Biography Rampelli was born in Pisino, Istria (then part of the Duchy of Carniola, Holy Roman Empire) into a prominent local fa ...

from

Pisino Pazin (, ) is a town in western Croatia, the administrative seat of Istria County. It is known for the medieval Pazin Castle, the former residence of the Istrian margraves. Geography The town had a population of 8,638 in 2011, of which 4,386 li ...

. A little later it was decided to build the cult building, which was to be dedicated to the

Madonna Madonna Louise Ciccone ( ; born August 16, 1958) is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, and actress. Referred to as the "Queen of Pop", she has been recognized for her continual reinvention and versatility in music production, ...

and be the largest sacred building in the city at that time. The first stone was laid on 10 October 1627 by Bishop Rinaldo Scarlicchio of Trieste. However, the church building took decades to complete. When the church was consecrated on 11 October 1682 by Trieste bishop Giacomo Ferdinando Gorizutti, the roof of the building was still partly uncovered. In November of the same year, the wooden dome of the church was destroyed by a fire that broke out in a nearby oil mill. When the Jesuit order was dissolved in 1773, the church had not yet been completed. The dome, two altars and other elements of the interior were missing. The dome was completed only in 1817. Due to the few preserved documents on the construction of the church, it is not clear who was responsible for the entire building project or individual elements within the church. It is assumed that Giacomo Briani (1589–1649), a Jesuit from

Modena Modena (, ; ; ; ; ) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) on the south side of the Po Valley, in the Province of Modena, in the Emilia-Romagna region of northern Italy. It has 184,739 inhabitants as of 2025. A town, and seat of an archbis ...

, was responsible for a considerable part of the interior design. The facade of the building was completed around 1701 and is probably the work of the

Trentino Trentino (), officially the Autonomous Province of Trento (; ; ), is an Autonomous province#Italy, autonomous province of Italy in the Northern Italy, country's far north. Trentino and South Tyrol constitute the Regions of Italy, region of Tren ...

Jesuit

Andrea Pozzo Andrea Pozzo (; Latinized version: ''Andreas Puteus''; 30 November 1642 – 31 August 1709) was an Italian Jesuit brother, Baroque painter, architect, decorator, stage designer, and art theoretician. Pozzo was best known for his grandiose fresc ...

(1642–1709). On 21 November 2011, during the celebration of the Madonna della Salute, the church was given the title of diocesan sanctuary by Archbishop

Giampaolo Crepaldi Giampaolo Crepaldi (born 29 September 1947) is a retired archbishop of the Catholic Church. He served as Bishop of Trieste from 4 October 2009 until 23 April 2023. He previously served as secretary of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Pea ...

Description

Façade

The facade of the church is in the

Baroque style The Baroque ( , , ) is a Western style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished from the early 17th century until the 1750s. It followed Renaissance art and Mannerism and preceded the Rococo (i ...

. It stands on two levels with a tympanum and is vertically divided into three parts by bundles of Corinthian pilasters which underline the division of the interior into three naves.

Interior

The interior has a Latin cross plan divided into three naves, with a transept and

apse In architecture, an apse (: apses; from Latin , 'arch, vault'; from Ancient Greek , , 'arch'; sometimes written apsis; : apsides) is a semicircular recess covered with a hemispherical Vault (architecture), vault or semi-dome, also known as an ' ...

. On the crossing stands the dome built in 1817 and frescoed by Giuseppe Bernardino Bison with the ''Quattro Evangelisti'' and false architectures.Giuseppe Bernardino Bison at Treccani
/ref> The high altar is dedicated to the

Immaculate Conception The Immaculate Conception is the doctrine that the Virgin Mary was free of original sin from the moment of her conception. It is one of the four Mariology, Marian dogmas of the Catholic Church. Debated by medieval theologians, it was not def ...

of the

Virgin Mary Mary was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Saint Joseph, Joseph and the mother of Jesus. She is an important figure of Christianity, venerated under titles of Mary, mother of Jesus, various titles such as Perpetual virginity ...

. It was built between 1672 and 1717. Some restorations were carried out in the 19th century. On both sides of the tabernacle are the marble statues of the saints

Ignatius of Loyola Ignatius of Loyola ( ; ; ; ; born Íñigo López de Oñaz y Loyola; – 31 July 1556), venerated as Saint Ignatius of Loyola, was a Basque Spaniard Catholic priest and theologian, who, with six companions, founded the religious order of the S ...

, Luigi Gonzaga,

Francesco Borgia Francis Borgia (; ; 28 October 1510 – 30 September 1572) was a Spanish Jesuit priest. The great-grandson of both Pope Alexander VI and King Ferdinand II of Aragon, he was Duke of Gandía and a grandee of Spain. After the death of his wi ...

and

Francesco Saverio Francis Xavier, SJ (born Francisco de Jasso y Azpilicueta; ; ; ; ; ; 7 April 15063 December 1552), venerated as Saint Francis Xavier, was a Navarrese cleric and missionary. He co-founded the Society of Jesus and, as a representative of ...

. The altar continues optically in the apse mural with a depiction of the Immaculate Conception,

fresco Fresco ( or frescoes) is a technique of mural painting executed upon freshly laid ("wet") lime plaster. Water is used as the vehicle for the dry-powder pigment to merge with the plaster, and with the setting of the plaster, the painting become ...

ed in 1842 by

Sebastiano Santi Sebastiano Santi (1788–1866) was an Italian painter, active both in oil and frescoes. He was born in Murano and trained at the Academy of Fine Arts of Venice under Teodoro Matteini. His works are to be found in the Venetian churches. He pai ...

."Friuli Venezia Giulia, Guida TCI, 2014, p. 55 To the right of the apse is the chapel of the ''Madonna della Salute'', with a 17th century painting of the Virgin attributed to

Sassoferrato Sassoferrato is a town and ''comune'' of the province of Ancona in the Marche region of central-eastern Italy. It is one of I Borghi più belli d'Italia ("The most beautiful villages of Italy"). History Between Sassoferrato and Arcevia was t ...

Rectors

List of rectors of the church: *

References

{{reflist 17th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in Italy

Churches in Friuli-Venezia Giulia Churches in the province of Trieste Church of Santa Maria Maggiore Baroque church buildings in Italy