Church of Santa Maria Addolorata (National Church of Argentina)

The Church of Santa Maria Addolorata is located in the Trieste district and was founded in 1910 on the initiative of the Argentine priest Don José León Gallardo. The construction works, designed by Giuseppe Astorri in 1900 and subsequently entrusted to the Order of the Mercedari Fathers, ended in 1930 and the church was inaugurated in that same year.

The building is in a neo-early Christian style: the facade is dominated by the large mosaic in which the figure of the Lamb, symbol of Christ, in the centre, is flanked by the symbols of the four evangelists; in the band below twelve sheep are depicted that recall the twelve apostles.

Inside, the building has a basilica plan without a transept, with three naves with a women's gallery that also continues in the counter-façade, where the pipe organ built in 1920 is located and intact in its original phonic characteristics. In the apse there is another large mosaic by Giovanni Battista Conti, depicting the Pietà, an allusion to the Virgin of Sorrows, in deference to the title of the church. The only chapel, which opens into the right aisle, houses the image of Our Lady of Lujiàn, patron saint of Argentina, and the flags of the provinces of the Federation.

The lectern by Duilio Cambellotti is noteworthy.

Photo credits: courtesy of Church of Santa Maria Addolorata official site