S. Maria ai Monti (1) also referred to as Madonna dei Monti from the name of Rione Monti in which it is located, was built by Della Porta in 1580. A contigous view swings the observer’s gaze to right which shows its piazza, Plate 37. With its planar two-level facade it typifies the late Renaissance church style in Rome. In the 1630s Pope Urban VIII Barberini (1623-1644) added the College for Neofiti (new converts to Catholicism) as the curved inscription on the corner of the building attests. The same Pope also restored the small church of S. Salvatore ai Monti (3) to the left of the Collegio. All the buildings mentioned face onto Via Madonna dei Monti which is part of a very ancient road known as Via della Suburra. This urban axis remained an active neighborhood in the medieval period, unlike the surrounding areas which largely reverted to open fields. On the left Vasi marks the presence of a (now vanished) blind alley (4) leading to the church and convent of the Concezione (Conception) destroyed in the 19th century for Via Cavour.
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