History

The church was built as a parochial church in 1922 in a new quarter of the city, the Città Giardino, on orders from Pope Benedict XV

Pope Benedict XV

Pope Benedict XV , born Giacomo Paolo Giovanni Battista della Chiesa, reigned as Pope from 3 September 1914 to 22 January 1922...

, to a design by Gustavo Giovannoni. The Clerics Regular Minor of S Francesco Caracciolo, also known as the Caracciolini, started working in the area on 7 April that year, and on 8 December the church was consecrated and granted to them by Pope Pius XI

Pope Pius XI

Pope Pius XI , born Ambrogio Damiano Achille Ratti, was Pope from 6 February 1922, and sovereign of Vatican City from its creation as an independent state on 11 February 1929 until his death on 10 February 1939...

. Six years later it was formally established as a parish.

It was built in a Neo-Classical style, inspired by the Italian Renaissance

Italian Renaissance

The Italian Renaissance began the opening phase of the Renaissance, a period of great cultural change and achievement in Europe that spanned the period from the end of the 13th century to about 1600, marking the transition between Medieval and Early Modern Europe...

, with a staircase in front of the façade, a travertine

Travertine

Travertine is a form of limestone deposited by mineral springs, especially hot springs. Travertine often has a fibrous or concentric appearance and exists in white, tan, and cream-colored varieties. It is formed by a process of rapid precipitation of calcium carbonate, often at the mouth of a hot...

 doorway, a single nave with side chapels, and a basilica

Basilica

The Latin word basilica , was originally used to describe a Roman public building, usually located in the forum of a Roman town. Public basilicas began to appear in Hellenistic cities in the 2nd century BC.The term was also applied to buildings used for religious purposes...

l baldachino. The church's dome is decorated with frescoes by Aronne del Vecchio, painted in 1961, of The Angels in Paradise with the Most Holy Trinity and the Blessed Virgin. (with pendant

Pendant

A pendant is a loose-hanging piece of jewellery, generally attached by a small loop to a necklace, when the ensemble may be known as a "pendant necklace". A pendant earring is an earring with a piece hanging down. In modern French "pendant" is the gerund form of “hanging”...

s of The Evangelists) who also made an image of The Deposition for the entrance to the sacristy and of The Birth of the Saviour for the church's side entrance. The high altarpiece is a copy of Guercino's St Michael the Archangel from San Pietro in Vaticano.

In the Piazza Sempione outside the church is a statue of the Immaculate Conception by Gino Giammei, made in 1949.

Chapels

On the south side are

• the Chapel of the Most Holy Crucifix (Santissimo Crocifisso), named after a plaster crucifix which has been moved to the Chapel of the Blessed Sacrament, where the Caracciolini encourage perpetual adoration of the Most Holy Eucharist.
• the Chapel of the Madonna of Mercy (Madonna della Misericordia
  Madonna della Misericordia
  The Polyptych of the Misericordia, conserved in the Pinacoteca Comunale of Sansepolcro, Tuscany, Italy, is one of the earliest works of the Italian Renaissance painter Piero della Francesca...
  
  ), the patron of this region of the city, with a statue from 1925 of the Blessed Virgin.

In the Chapel of St Francis Caracciolo

Francis Caracciolo

Saint Francis Caracciolo , born Ascanio Pisquizio, was an Italian Catholic priest who co-founded the Congregation of the Minor Clerics Regular with Venerable John Augustine Adorno. He decided to adopt a religious life at the age of 22.-Biography:St Francis Caracciolo was born in Villa Santa Maria...

is a painting by Romano Coradetti depicting Saints in Adoration of the Blessed Eucharist.