Santa Maria in Aquiro is a church in Rome, Italy. It is dedicated in honor of

Mary, mother of Jesus 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 ...

, and is located on Piazza Capranica. The church is ancient—it was restored by

Pope Gregory III Pope Gregory III (; died 28 November 741) was the bishop of Rome from 11 February 731 to his death on 28 November 741. His pontificate, like that of his predecessor, was disturbed by Byzantine iconoclasm and the advance of the Lombards, in which ...

in the 8th century, and thus must have existed before then. One theory is that it was the '' titulus Equitii'', though

San Martino ai Monti San Martino ai Monti, officially known as Santi Silvestro e Martino ai Monti ("Saints Sylvester & Martin in the Mountains"), is a minor basilica in Rome, Italy, in the Rione Monti (rione of Rome), Monti neighbourhood. It is located near the edge o ...

is a more likely candidate. It is also referred to as Santa Maria della Visitazione, notably by

Pope Urban VI Pope Urban VI (; ; c. 1318 – 15 October 1389), born Bartolomeo Prignano (), was head of the Catholic Church from 8 April 1378 to his death, in October 1389. He was the last pope elected from outside the College of Cardinals. His pontificate be ...

in 1389. The origins of the name are nebulous; most attribute it to a corruption of the term ''a Cyro'', perhaps referring in early days to a neighborhood resident named Cyrus or deriving from

Cyrus Cyrus () is a Persian-language masculine given name. It is historically best known as the name of several List of monarchs of Iran, Persian kings, most notably including Cyrus the Great, who founded the Achaemenid Empire in 550 BC. It remains wid ...

. According to another theory ''Acyro'' refers to a corruption of the Latin word ''

circus A circus is a company of performers who put on diverse entertainment shows that may include clowns, acrobats, trained animals, trapeze acts, musicians, dancers, hoopers, tightrope walkers, jugglers, magicians, ventriloquists, and unicy ...

'', a stadium for

horse racing Horse racing is an equestrian performance activity, typically involving two or more horses ridden by jockeys (or sometimes driven without riders) over a set distance for competition. It is one of the most ancient of all sports, as its bas ...

; the Circus Flaminius was located in the vicinity. In 1540

Pope Paul III Pope Paul III (; ; born Alessandro Farnese; 29 February 1468 – 10 November 1549) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 13 October 1534 to his death, in November 1549. He came to the papal throne in an era follo ...

granted the church to the Confraternity of Orphans, and it was restored in 1588.

Art and architecture

The most important work of art in the church is a 14th-century painting, in the apse, of the ''Madonna and Child with St Stephen'', attributed to the school of Pietro Cavallini. This painting and the funeral lapidary monuments in the vestibule are from the medieval church of Santo Stefano del Trullo, destroyed during the pontificate of

Pope Alexander VII Pope Alexander VII (; 13 February 159922 May 1667), born Fabio Chigi, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 7 April 1655 to his death, in May 1667. He began his career as a vice- papal legate, and he held various d ...

(1655–1667). There are also paintings from the 17th and 18th centuries. The facade was completed by 1774 by Pietro Camporese the Elder, based on designs of Giovanni Francesco Braccioli. The interior was redecorated by Cesare Mariani in 1866. Two chapels have paintings by followers of

Caravaggio Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio (also Michele Angelo Merigi or Amerighi da Caravaggio; 29 September 1571 – 18 July 1610), known mononymously as Caravaggio, was an Italian painter active in Rome for most of his artistic life. During the fina ...

: the third chapel at right has a ''Virgin and Saints'' (1617) by Carlo Saraceni, while the second chapel on the left has three canvasses – ''Deposition from the Cross'', ''Crowning with the crown of thorns'', and ''Flagellation of Christ'' (1635-1640) – attributed to the Frenchman Trophime Bigot. Formerly these paintings were thought to be by the hand of

Gerard van Honthorst Gerard van Honthorst (Dutch: ''Gerrit van Honthorst''; 4 November 1592 – 27 April 1656) was a Dutch Golden Age painting, Dutch Golden Age painter who became known for his depiction of artificially lit scenes, eventually receiving the nickn ...

Cardinal-deacons

Santa Maria in Aquiro has been a

titular church In the Catholic Church, a titular church () is a Churches in Rome, church in Rome that is assigned to a member of the Holy orders in the Catholic Church, clergy who is created a Cardinal (Catholic Church), cardinal. These are Catholic churches in ...

since the 11th century. The most recent cardinal-deacon was

Angelo Amato Angelo Amato, Salesians of Don Bosco, S.D.B. (8 June 1938 – 31 December 2024) was an Italian Cardinal (Catholic Church), cardinal of the Catholic Church who served as the Prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints between 2008 and 20 ...

who died on 31 December 2024. * Bertrand de Montfavez (1316–1342) * Etienne Aubert (1361–1368) ** Pierre de Fetigny (1383–1392), Pseudocardinal ** Jofré de Boil (1397–1400), Pseudocardinal * Giovanni Colonna (1480–1508) * Luigi d'Aragona, in commendam (1508–1517) * Guillaume de Croÿ (1517–1521) * ''vacant'' (1521–1535) * Gasparo Contarini (1535) * Marino Ascanio Caracciolo (1535–1538) * Ippolito II d'Este (1539–1564); in commendam (1564) * Benedetto Lomellini (1565) * Zaccaria Delfino (1565–1578) * Antonmaria Salviati (1584–1587) * ''vacant'' (1587–1596) * Pompeio Arrigoni (1596–1597) * Lorenzo Magalotti (1624-1628); Cardinal priest

pro hac vice Pro is an abbreviation meaning "professional". Pro, PRO or variants thereof might also refer to: People * Miguel Pro (1891–1927), Mexican priest * Pro Hart (1928–2006), Australian painter * Mlungisi Mdluli (born 1980), South African retire ...

(1624–1628) * Antonio Barberini (1628–1632) * John Albert Vasa SJ (1632–1634) * Paolo Emilio Rondinini (1643–1655) * Friedrich von Hessen-Darmstadt (1655–1656) * Giacomo Franzoni (1660–1669) * Lazzaro Pallavicini (1670–1677) * ''vacant'' (1677–1681) * Michelangelo Ricci (1681–1682) * ''vacant'' (1682–1686) * Gasparo Cavalieri (1686–1688) * Gianfrancesco Albani (1690) * Lorenzo Altieri (1690–1707) * ''vacant'' (1707–1716) * Carlo Maria Marini (1716–1738) * Carlo Maria Sacripante (1739–1741) * Alessandro Tanara (1743–1754) *

Marcantonio Colonna Marcantonio II Colonna (sometimes spelled Marc'Antonio; 1535 – August 1, 1584), Duke of Tagliacozzo and Duke and Prince of Paliano, was an Italian aristocrat who served as Viceroy of Sicily in the service of the Spanish Crown, general of ...

(1759–1762) * Andrea Negroni (1763–1765) * ''vacant'' (1765–1775) * Pasquale Acquaviva d'Aragona (1775–1779) * ''vacant'' (1779–1785) * Ferdinando Spinelli (1785–1789) * Francesco Guidobono Cavalchini (1818–1828) * ''vacant'' (1828–1832) * Mario Mattei (1832–1842) * ''vacant'' (1842–1853) * Domenico Savelli (1853–1864) * ''vacant'' (1864–1868) * Annibale Capalti (1868–1877) * Antonio Pellegrini (1877–1887) * Luigi Macchi (1889–1896) * ''vacant'' (1896–1901) * Francesco Salesio Della Volpe (1901–1916) * Louis-Ernest Dubois, titolo pro illa vice (1916–1929) * Federico Cattani Amadori (1935–1943) * Pierre-André-Charles Petit de Julleville, Cardinal priest pro hac vice (1946–1947) * ''vacant'' (1947–1953) * Carlos María de la Torre, Cardinal priest pro hac vice (1953–1968) * Mario Casariego y Acevedo CRS, Cardinal priest pro hac vice (1969–1983) * Antonio Innocenti (1985–2008); Cardinal priest pro hac vice (1996–2008) * ''vacant'' (2008–2010) *

SDB (2010–2024); Cardinal priest pro hac vice (2021–2024) * ''vacant''

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Maria Aquiro Titular churches Renaissance architecture in Rome Churches of Rome (rione Colonna) 16th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in Italy Roman Catholic churches completed in 1588