One of Rome's Better-Kept Secrets

Map

Santa Maria dei Sette Dolori

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From the outside, Santa Maria dei Sette Dolori (St Mary of the Seven Sorrows) doesn't look very much like a church. Begun in 1643, it was designed by Francesco Borromini (1599-1667) for the Order of Augustinian Oblates, which had been established two years earlier by Camilla-Virginia Savelli Farnese, the Duchess of Latera.

The unfinished curved facade is of plain brick; the single entrance provides almost the only decoration.

The church, unusually, is developed along an axis parallel to the façade. 

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Interior