Chiesa del Santissimo Rosario

Marino's Church of the Most Holy Rosary is a domed Greek-cross church in white Rococo stucco, built in 1712–13 to designs by Giuseppe Sardi for the Dominican nuns of the convent on Piazza Garibaldi.

Why it matters

Sister Maria Isabella Colonna initiated the foundation of a cloistered Dominican house in her family's fief. Her brother, Duke Lorenzo Onofrio Colonna, financed the project and provided houses near Madonna delle Grazie for the convent. The nuns took possession in 1676 and have maintained the cloister since. The church is a well-preserved example of Roman Rococo in Lazio.

What to notice

The Greek-cross plan is crowned by a hemispherical dome with lunettes. White stucco mouldings animate the interior, contrasting with the plain convent exterior. The church's carefully composed interior reflects its Baroque-era design for worship.

Context and history

Roman architect Giuseppe Sardi built the church between March 1712 and April 1713. Four of the six Colonna daughters took religious vows. The Marino foundation later inspired a Dominican community in Avezzano; after the 1915 earthquake, surviving nuns from that community moved to Marino. During the 1944 bombing of the Castelli Romani, the convent set up a makeshift hospital. The complex was formerly known as San Domenico before taking its present dedication to Mary of the Rosary, a devotion connected in Marino with the Lepanto tradition.