Chiesa di Santa Maria della Mercede

The church is a parish seat, established by Pius XI on February 2, 1932 with the apostolic constitution In Salaria huius almae Urbis; originally the parish was located in the church of Santa Maria Addolorata in Piazza Buenos Aires, and only since 1958 has the transfer taken place. Since 1967 it has been the seat of the cardinal title of Santa Maria della Mercede and Sant'Adriano a Villa Albani. It was built with the designs of the architect Marco Piloni in 1958 for the order of Santa Maria della Mercede. On the facade there are bronze angels by Guarino Roscioli. The interior has a basilica plan with three naves and an apse, in which is located the fresco depicting the Glorification of the Madonna with the Mercedarian saints by Luigi Montanarini. Some works that once adorned the former church of Sant'Adriano al Foro Romano were transferred to this church, namely the Bernini-style stoups in the shape of angels, a Holy Family from the Raphaelesque school and the Sacred Heart by Carlo Maratta. The ten stained glass windows at the top of the naves with the Stories of the Order of Santa Maria delle Mercede are the work of Jonás (Giovanni) Hajnal (1903-2010), who also created the stained glass windows in the Paul VI Hall (also known as the Audience Hall or Nervi Hall) in the Vatican. The Tamburini pipe organ, opus 598, built in 1968 and designed by Luigi Ferdinando Tagliavini, is located on the choir counter-facade. The instrument, restored in the 2010s to its original sound characteristics after the pipes of the first manual (Positivo espressivo) were moved to a gallery to the side of the presbytery in 1999 when an auxiliary floor console was added to the nave, has a mixed transmission (mechanical for the manuals and the pedal and electric for the registers) and has 56 registers distributed across three manuals and a pedal. The sound material is entirely enclosed within the geometrically designed wooden case, with the exception of the 8' Horizontal Trumpet.