Santa Marta al Collegio Romano is a deconsecrated church located in the Piazza del Collegio Romano in the Rione Pigna of

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

, Italy. A ''House of Saint Martha'' was founded in 1543 by St

Ignatius of Loyola Ignatius of Loyola, Society of Jesus, S.J. (born Íñigo López de Oñaz y Loyola; eu, Ignazio Loiolakoa; es, Ignacio de Loyola; la, Ignatius de Loyola; – 31 July 1556), venerated as Saint Ignatius of Loyola, was a Spain, Spanish Catholic ...

to rehabilitate women considered of poor morals, because they were adulterous or ''married women shamelessly living in public sin without fear of God or men''''malmaritate'', or ''le donne coniugate in peccato pubblico senza timor d'Iddio et senza vergogna delli uomini”'' che volevano riabilitarsi. Saint Martha is considered the patron saint of married women. The church became a monastery, and by 1560 was under the

Augustinian order Augustinians are members of Christian religious orders that follow the Rule of Saint Augustine, written in about 400 AD by Augustine of Hippo. There are two distinct types of Augustinians in Catholic religious orders dating back to the 12th–13 ...

. The church was consecrated in 1696, with a reconstruction by

Carlo Fontana Carlo Fontana (1634 or 1638–1714) was an Italian architect originating from today's Canton Ticino, who was in part responsible for the classicizing direction taken by Late Baroque Roman architecture. Biography There seems to be no proof that ...

. Deconsecrated by Napoleonic invasions, it presently functions as a cultural center. The interior art has been mostly transferred. Some of the stucco and architectural decoration remains. The ceiling is frescoed by Baciccio.

Bibliography

M. Armellini, ''Le chiese di Roma dal secolo IV al XIX'', Roma 1891

Bibliography

See also