Chiesa di Santa Paola Romana

The Church of Santa Paola Romana is a Catholic place of worship in Rome, located in the Balduina area, in the Trionfale district, on Via Duccio Galimberti; it is a parish church, governed by the clergy of the diocese of Rome, and the eponymous cardinal's title.The church of St Paula Romana stands on the site of an older church, called Sancta Maria Virgo a Puteo extra Portam Angelicam (in Italian: Santa Maria del Pozzo outside Porta Angelica) and commonly known as Madonna del Pozzo, around which there was a small hamlet that took its name from it. The presence of the building, owned by the chapter of St Peter's in the Vatican and falling within the territory of the parish of San Lazzaro dei lebbrosi, was witnessed as far back as 1566; an image of the Madonna and Child was venerated inside, which, according to tradition, had been found inside a well. The church, which stood behind the present building, was demolished in 1961.The new church, dedicated to the holy matron Paola Romana, was built between 1949 and 1951 to a design by Tullio Rossi and under the direction of Francesco Fornari.On 9 November 1951, the parish of “Santa Paola Romana vedova, alla Balduina” was established by decree of Cardinal Vicar Clemente Micara Quo facilius spirituali, whose territory was taken from those of San Francesco a Monte Mario, San Giuseppe al Trionfale and Santa Maria delle Grazie al Trionfale.In the following decades, the interior of the building was enriched with various works, including the mosaic of the apsidal basin by Silvio Consadori (1955), the bronze Via Crucis by Egidio Giaroli (1961), the large paintings of the nave by Gian Luigi Bocchetta (1996) and the bronze portal by Luciano Capriotti (2001). Between 2003 and 2011, both the exterior and interior of the building underwent radical restoration, with the external colouring, the presbytery area and the installation of polychrome stained glass windows.The exterior of the church is characterised by the extreme simplicity of its lines. The gabled façade banishes any decorative elements, with the exception of the coat of arms of Pope Pius XII at the top of the tympanum, but is enlivened by the three central windows emphasised by a brick surround. The large bronze entrance portal, designed by Luciano Capriotti (2001) and depicting the Seven Sacraments and Scenes from the Life of Saint Paula, is preceded by a forepart with a wide and deep round arch flanked by two single-lancet windows. In the forepart, as well as on the flank and the bell tower, the motif of exposed brickwork contours returns to emphasise the various openings and enliven the surfaces.The interior of the church also has a very simple structure: a single, wide nave with a wooden trussed roof and a chancel on the counter façade, concluded by a rather deep apse and enlivened by a single, considerably smaller side chapel on the left, which opens with two segmental arches. In the latter is the effigy of the Madonna del Pozzo from the church of the same name, an 18th-century copy of an ancient Byzantine icon; in the same room is also a painting on canvas depicting Saint Pio of Pietrelcina, by Ulisse Sartini (2003).In the nave, below the large single-light windows that make up the clerestory, are six large paintings by Gian Luigi Bocchetta (1996) depicting Scenes from the Life of Jesus: Annunciation, Nativity, Public Ministry, Last Supper, Death and Resurrection. Below them, along the right-hand wall, are the bronze Via Crucis (1961) and a crucifix (1967), works by Egidio Giaroli. On the back wall, next to the apsidal arch, are the marble baptismal font and a polychrome stained glass window depicting the Baptism of Jesus, by Lidia Nostini (1963). The complete lighting design and the eight chandeliers in the nave, with Easter symbolism, were realised in 2019 according to a design by Paolo Gioffreda and Francesco Zanini.The presbytery, raised a few steps above the rest of the church, occupies the entire apse and was built in the 2000s to a design by Mattia del Prete. It is composed of marble furnishings such as the altar (in the centre), the ambo (in a forward position, on the left), the presbytery seat (behind the altar) and the tabernacle (in a backward position, on the right), the latter a work by Giampiero Maria Arabia. Originally, the area was bordered by a marble balustrade and, above the altar, there was a modestly sized painting depicting the patron saint of the church. The semicircular apse is largely decorated with a mosaic by Silvio Casadori depicting the Holy Family with Saint Paula (1955), who also created the mosaic of the apsidal arch of the Descent of the Holy Spirit.In a niche in the right wall of the apse is the Pinchi pipe organ opus 311, built in 1973 and restored and enlarged by Stefano Buccolini in 1980. The instrument has electric transmission, with 20 registers distributed over two manuals and pedal.