Santa Maria del Popolo (Saint Mary of the People) is a Romanesque-style,

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

church located on Corso di San Giuseppe between via Sbarra and via Recta in the town of

Leonessa :''Leonessa is also the name of a ''frazione'' of Bassano Romano.'' Leonessa is a town and ''comune'' in the far northeastern part of the Province of Rieti in the Lazio region of central Italy. Its population in 2008 was around 2,700. Situated in ...

province of Rieti The Province of Rieti ( it, Provincia di Rieti) is a province in the Lazio region of Italy. Its capital is the city of Rieti. Established in 1927, it has an area of with a total population of 157,887 people as of 2017. There are 73 ''comuni'' ...

, region of

Lazio it, Laziale , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , demographics1_title2 ...

, central Italy.

History

The first documentation of the church is from 1334. Once called Chiesa del Sesto di Croce, as it was enlarged it became known as the parish church of the town, and from the 15th-century forward it was known as Santa Maria del Popolo or ''dei Preti''. It became a

collegiate church In Christianity, a collegiate church is a church where the daily office of worship is maintained by a college of canons: a non-monastic or "secular" community of clergy, organised as a self-governing corporate body, which may be presided over by a ...

in the 17th-century. The facade is made of asymmetric stone bricks, and has a flat sail-like bell-feature asymmetrically placed on the roof. Above the portal is a high oculus. The portal has a rounded, slightly peaked Romanesque arch with a tympanum housing a simple, but charming sculpted relief of the ''Virgin and child'' in her lap flanked by two figures. The doorway is flanked by decorative columns. Inscriptions on the facade cite a reconstruction in 1452, and a refurbishment in 1598. The interior has three naves, with heavy pilasters flanking the central nave. The semicircular apse is elevated relative to the rest of the church.Chiese delle Diocesi Italiana
website, entry on church. The church suffered from recent earthquakes and in the 21st century underwent restoration.

References

Roman Catholic churches in Lazio 12th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in Italy Romanesque architecture in Lazio Churches in the province of Rieti {{Italy-RC-church-stub