141.

Chiesa e Monastero dell'Immacolata Concezione di Maria in Campo Marzo delle Monache Benedettine

Chronologically this is the third of three churches built on the extensive grounds of the convent belonging to the Benedictine nuns. The first two are internal, dating from the 8th and 10th centuries. S. Maria in Campo Marzio, built by G.A. De Rossi in the late 17th century, has a very plain facade turned toward the convent, but an elaborate apse facing the Via della Maddalena (2), clearly designed to be seen by people approaching along that street. The church occupies a corner of the convent grounds bounded by the Strada di Montecitorio (3) now Via degli Uffici del Vicario, and the present Piazza di S. Maria in Campo Marzio in the foreground. The main entrance to the convent appears at center left, flanked by paired pilasters, while the public entrance to the church itself is the small door toward the back where the wall turns at an angle (with two small figures standing next to it). The inward turning church with a side entrance for the public is an arrangement reminiscent of the earlier Dominican complex of S. Sabina, Plate 129, on the Aventine hill. The asymmetrically placed doorway in Palazzo Nari (1) also designed by De Rossi, is aligned with the center of the piazza.