Sant'Ambrogio e Carlo al Corso (usually known simply as ''San Carlo al Corso'') is a basilica church in Rome, Italy, facing onto the central part of the Via del Corso. The apse of the church faces across the street, the Mausoleum of Augustus on Via di Ripetta. This church is dedicated to

Saint Ambrose Ambrose of Milan ( la, Aurelius Ambrosius; ), venerated as Saint Ambrose, ; lmo, Sant Ambroeus . was a theologian and statesman who served as Bishop of Milan from 374 to 397. He expressed himself prominently as a public figure, fiercely promo ...

and Saint Charles Borromeo, the patron saints of Milan. It is one of at least three churches in Rome dedicated to Borromeo, others including San Carlo ai Catinari and San Carlo alle Quattro Fontane.

Construction

The church of the Saints Ambrogio and Carlo al Corso is the national church of the Lombards, to whom in 1471 Pope Sixtus IV gave, in recognition of their valuable construction work of the Sistine Chapel, the small church of S. Niccolò del Tufo, which was first restored and then dedicated to S. Ambrogio, the patron saint of Milan. Its construction was begun in honour of the canonization of St. Charles Borromeo in 1610, under the direction of Onorio Longhi and, after his death, of his son Martino Longhi the Younger. The site was that of the former church of ''San Nicola de Tofo''. The ground plan is based on the Latin cross. The dome, resembling that of Santi Luca e Martina, was designed by

Pietro da Cortona Pietro da Cortona (; 1 November 1596 or 159716 May 1669) was an Italian Baroque painter and architect. Along with his contemporaries and rivals Gian Lorenzo Bernini and Francesco Borromini, he was one of the key figures in the emergence of Roman ...

(1668), who was also responsible for the apse and rich internal decorations. The façade was designed by Cardinal Luigi Alessandro Omodei, who financed the completion of the church, and did not like the project prepared by

Carlo Rainaldi Carlo Rainaldi (4 May 1611 – 8 February 1691) was an Italian architect of the Baroque period. Biography Born in Rome, Rainaldi was one of the leading architects of 17th century Rome, known for a certain grandeur in his designs. He worked at f ...

Decoration

The central vault is frescoed with a ''Fall of the Rebel Angels'' (1677–1679) by Giacinto Brandi. The altarpiece, depicting the ''Saints Ambrose and Charles Borromeo with the Virgin and Jesus'', was painted around 1685–1690 by Carlo Maratta. The stucco decoration was by Giacomo and Cosimo Fancelli. The statue of the saints were by Francesco Cavallini. Frescos of Justice and Peace were painted by Girolamo Troppa. There are also paintings by the baroque painter Giovanni Battista Beinaschi. Rear of the San Carlo al Corso

In the ambulatory behind the sanctuary is a niche where a reliquary containing the heart of St Charles is kept. It was donated to the church in 1614 by Cardinal Federico Borromeo, a cousin of the saint. The 16th-century oratory of St. Ambrose is beyond the left transept. The first chapel on the right is dedicated to the Crucifixion and has a fresco of ''Vigilance'' by

Paolo Albertoni Paolo Albertoni was an Italian painter of the late-Baroque period. He was born in Rome and trained in the studio of Carlo Maratti. He joined the Accademia di San Luca in Rome in 1695, and died soon after. There are pictures by him in the church ...

. The second chapel, on the right is dedicated to ''Mary, Aid of Christians'' (Maria Auxilium Christianorum), has an image of the Virgin donated by St Vincent Pallotti in the 19th century. The third chapel on the right is dedicated to the Holy Family. On its left side is a depiction of ''The Redemptor and Sts Ambrose and Charles'' as well as the sepulchral monument of Federico Borromeo. On the exterior, to the sides of the apse and facing the ancient Mausoleum of Augustus, are two giant statues of the titular saints, among the largest in Rome. Other artists active in the church include

Pasquale de' Rossi Pasquale de' Rossi (* 1641 in Vicenza; † 28 June 1722 in Rome), also known as Pasqualino de' Rossi, was an Italian painter of the Baroque period. Born in Vicenza, he was mostly self-trained in design. He painted a ''Baptism of Christ'' for the ...

Luigi Garzi Luigi Garzi (1638 – 1721) was an Italian painter of the Baroque period, whose work displayed heavy influences of the Bolognese painter, Guido Reni. Biography Born in Pistoia. He started learning from a poorly known landscape painter, Salomon B ...

Francesco Rosa Francesco Rosa (died 1687) was an Italian painter from Genoa. His works include ''The Glory of the Eternal Father'' at Santa Caterina a Magnanapoli and ''Moses'' at the Pantheon, both in Rome. Gregorio Lazzarini Gregorio Lazzarini (1657 – ...

Giovanni Battista Buonocore Giovanni Battista Buonocore (1643 in Campli, Province of Teramo, Abruzzo – May 22, 1699 in Rome) was an Italian painter of the Baroque period. He became Rector (1679), then ''Principe'' (1698) (replacing the Maratta) of the Accademia di San Luca ...

, and Fabbrizio Chiari.

Chapel of St. Olav

The Chapel of

St. Olav Olaf II Haraldsson ( – 29 July 1030), later known as Saint Olaf (and traditionally as St. Olave), was King of Norway from 1015 to 1028. Son of Harald Grenske, a petty king in Vestfold, Norway, he was posthumously given the title ''Rex Perp ...

of Norway, to the left of the nave, is dedicated to the martyr king who converted to Christianity and was slain in the Battle of Stiklestad in 1030. The chapel was inaugurated by Cardinal Lucido Maria Parocchi on 9 April 1893, on the 50th anniversary of the first Mass celebrated legally in Norway since the Reformation. The painting, by the Polish artist Pius Weloński, depicts the Viking king's victory over his own pagan past, which is represented by a dragon. It was a gift, presented on 3 March 1893, to Pope Leo XIII for the 50th anniversary of his episcopal ordination. Bishop

Johannes Olav Fallize Johannes Olav Fallize, Ph.D., D.Th. (9 November 1844, Bettelange, Luxembourg, Belgium – 23 October 1933, Luxembourg, Luxembourg), was the first Roman Catholic bishop in Norway since the Reformation. As the head of the Catholic Church of Norway ...

, then the Vicar Apostolic of Norway, had asked that it be placed in this chapel and it was unveiled by the Papal chamberlain, Baron

Wilhelm Wedel-Jarlsberg Wilhelm Christian Wedel-Jarlsberg (February 20, 1852 at Vækerø Manor – September 16, 1909 in Einsiedeln) was a Norwegian nobleman and papal chamberlain. He was the son of Baron Herman Wedel-Jarlsberg (Bogstad) and Edle Frederikke Rosen� ...

. The Pope supported the idea of a Norwegian chapel in Rome. A smaller picture on the altar shows St. Anne and her daughter, the Blessed Virgin. St Anne was a very popular saint in pre-Reformation Norway. The relics of a Roman martyr, St. Saturninus, are interred in the altar. Nothing is known about him except his name. The chapel was restored, and it was reinaugurated by

John Willem Gran Willem Nicolaysen Gran (monastic name: John; 5 April 1920 – 20 March 2008) was the bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Oslo from 1963 to 1983. Life Gran traveled Europe at the end of the 1930s, with plans to take a degree in opera. When ...

, the Bishop of Oslo, in 1980. The initiative for this restoration came from Cecilie "Ciss" Riber-Mohn (who was not herself a Catholic, and who died in 1978, before the restoration was complete), Olga Térése "Olgese" Mowinckel Ringler and her Italian husband Andrea Ringler. Rieber-Mohn had also preserved the chapel in the 1960s, when there was talk about using it for other purposes. Mass is celebrated in Norwegian at Christmas, on 17 May (Constitution Day) and 16 October (feast of St. Olav's conversion), and many Norwegian expatriates, including non-Catholic, take part. Requiem masses are celebrated for Norwegians with connections to Rome. Norwegian pilgrim groups can make an appointment to celebrate Mass here, and at times tourist groups come here for ecumenical services.

Marriage of Liszt

San Carlo al Corso is the church where the marriage was planned to be solemnized between

Franz Liszt Franz Liszt, in modern usage ''Liszt Ferenc'' . Liszt's Hungarian passport spelled his given name as "Ferencz". An orthographic reform of the Hungarian language in 1922 (which was 36 years after Liszt's death) changed the letter "cz" to simpl ...

and Carolyne zu Sayn-Wittgenstein. From 1849, this Polish princess granted hospitality to Liszt, her great lover, at the Altenburg in Weimar. In 1860 she left for Rome to dissolve her marriage with the Russian officer Nikolaus - which had already been done in Russia five years earlier. When this succeeded in January 1861, she organized her union with Liszt on 22 October 1861, Liszt's 50th Birthday, in the San Carlo, her parish church. On 20 October Liszt arrived in Rome, and made a marriage statement with Carolyne. Meanwhile, Bishop Von Hohenlohe, a brother of Carolyne's son-in-law, succeeded, with help of Carolyne's relatives, in preventing the marriage ceremony - and thus in keeping Carolyne's capital in the families: on the eve of the marriage Carolyne received a message from the pastor of San Carlo that the request was being reconsidered and the wedding postponed. Thereupon she broke her relationship with Liszt off - who remained in Rome, where he studied theology, became friendly with Von Hohenlohe, received from him the Minor Orders, and proceeded life as ‘Abbé Liszt’.Lisztomania: Liszt in Rome
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List of Cardinal-Priest

* Desiderio Scaglia, O.P., 16 October 1627 - 21 August 1639 * Angelo Dell'Acqua, O.SS.CA, 9 June 1967 - 27 August 1972 * Ugo Poletti, 5 March 1973 - 25 February 1997 * Dionigi Tettamanzi, 21 February 1998 - 5 August 2017

References

Sources

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Carlo Al Corso 17th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in Italy Basilica churches in Rome Titular churches Churches of Rome (rione Campo Marzio) Church buildings with domes Churches dedicated to Saint Olav