Santa Teresa degli Scalzi, known as the church of the Scalzi (''Chiesa degli Scalzi'') is a

Baroque The Baroque (, ; ) is a style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished in Europe from the early 17th century until the 1750s. In the territories of the Spanish and Portuguese empires including t ...

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 in central

Verona Verona ( , ; vec, Verona or ) is a city on the Adige River in Veneto, Northern Italy, Italy, with 258,031 inhabitants. It is one of the seven provincial capitals of the region. It is the largest city Comune, municipality in the region and the ...

, region of

Veneto Veneto (, ; vec, Vèneto ) or Venetia is one of the 20 regions of Italy. Its population is about five million, ranking fourth in Italy. The region's capital is Venice while the biggest city is Verona. Veneto was part of the Roman Empire unt ...

, Italy.

History

The church was attached to the discalced (scalzi) order of

Carmelite nuns , image = , caption = Coat of arms of the Carmelites , abbreviation = OCarm , formation = Late 12th century , founder = Early hermits of Mount Carmel , founding_location = Mount Ca ...

housed in a Dominican monastery. Construction of the church began in 1666 and was not complete until 1750, with the facade only finished much later. The design is attributed to the

Jesuit , image = Ihs-logo.svg , image_size = 175px , caption = ChristogramOfficial seal of the Jesuits , abbreviation = SJ , nickname = Jesuits , formation = , founders ...

architect Giuseppe Pozzi. Initially dedicated to the Virgin of the Annunciation and Saint Gabriel the Archangel (''Vergine Annunziata e a San Gabriele Arcangelo''), however the order rededicated it to their patron

Teresa of Avila Teresa (also Theresa, Therese; french: Thérèse) is a feminine given name. It originates in the Iberian Peninsula in late antiquity. Its derivation is uncertain, it may be derived from Greek θερίζω (''therízō'') "to harvest or rea ...

. The monastery was suppressed on 8 July 1806 by a decree of Napoleon and came to be used as a prison from 1883 onwards. The monastic buildings were destroyed by bombing in the Second World War. The three statues in the facade are by

Francesco Zoppi Francesco, the Italian (and original) version of the personal name " Francis", is the most common given name among males in Italy. Notable persons with that name include: People with the given name Francesco * Francesco I (disambiguation), sev ...

. In the belltower there is a ring of five in A, cast in 1825 and played in

Veronese bellringing art Veronese bell ringing is a style of ringing church bells that developed around Verona, Italy from the eighteenth century. The bells are rung full circle (mouth uppermost to mouth uppermost), being held up by a rope and wheel until a note is r ...

. The main altarpiece depicts an ''Annunciation with God the Father in Glory Above'' by

Antonio Balestra Antonio Balestra (12 August 1666 – 21 April 1740) was an Italian painter of the Rococo period. Biography Born in Verona, he first apprenticed there with Giovanni Zeffio. By 1690 he moved to Venice, where he worked for three years under Anto ...

.Nuova guida di Verona e della sua provincia
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References

*G. Borelli, Chiese e monasteri di Verona, Verona, Banca popolare di Verona, 1980. Roman Catholic churches in Verona Baroque architecture in Verona 17th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in Italy Roman Catholic churches completed in 1750 {{italy-church-stub