Santa Maria in Aquiro is a church in Rome

Churches of Rome

There are more than 900 churches in Rome. Most, but not all, of these are Roman Catholic, with some notable Roman Catholic Marian churches.The first churches of Rome originated in places where Christians met. They were divided into three categories:...

, Italy. It is dedicated to Mary, mother of Jesus

Mary (mother of Jesus)

Mary , commonly referred to as "Saint Mary", "Mother Mary", the "Virgin Mary", the "Blessed Virgin Mary", or "Mary, Mother of God", was a Jewish woman of Nazareth in Galilee...

, and is located on Piazza Capranica.

The church is ancient – it was restored by Pope Gregory III

Pope Gregory III

Pope Saint Gregory III was pope from 731 to 741. A Syrian by birth, he succeeded Gregory II in March 731. His pontificate, like that of his predecessor, was disturbed by the iconoclastic controversy in the Byzantine Empire, in which he vainly invoked the intervention of Charles Martel.Elected by...

 in the VIII century, and thus must have existed before then. One theory is that it was the titulus Equitii, though San Martino ai Monti

San Martino ai Monti

San Martino ai Monti, also known as Santi Silvestro e Martino ai Monti - Titolo Equizio, is a basilica church in Rome, Italy, in the Rione Monti neighbourhood.-History:...

 is a more likely candidate. It is also referred to as Santa Maria della Visitazione, notably by Pope Urban VI

Pope Urban VI

Pope Urban VI , born Bartolomeo Prignano, was Pope from 1378 to 1389.-Biography:Born in Itri, he was a devout monk and learned casuist, trained at Avignon. On March 21, 1364, he was consecrated Archbishop of Acerenza in the Kingdom of Naples...

 in 1389. The origins of the name are nebulous; most attribute it to a corruption of the term a Cyro, perhaps referring in early days to a neighborhood resident. According to another theory Acyro refers to a curruption of the Latin word "circus", a stadium for horse racing

Horse racing

Horse racing is an equestrian sport that has a long history. Archaeological records indicate that horse racing occurred in ancient Babylon, Syria, and Egypt. Both chariot and mounted horse racing were events in the ancient Greek Olympics by 648 BC...

, which was located in the vicinity. In 1540 Pope Paul III

Pope Paul III

Pope Paul III , born Alessandro Farnese, was Pope of the Roman Catholic Church from 1534 to his death in 1549. He came to the papal throne in an era following the sack of Rome in 1527 and rife with uncertainties in the Catholic Church following the Protestant Reformation...

 granted the church to the Confraternity of Orphans, and it was restored in 1588.

Art and architecture

The most important work of art in the church is a 14th century painting, in the apse, of the Madonna and Child with St Stephen, attributed to the school of Pietro Cavallini

Pietro Cavallini

Pietro Cavallini was an Italian painter and mosaic designer working during the late Middle Ages. Little is known about his biography, though it is known he was from Rome, since he signed pictor romanus....

. This painting and the funeral lapidary monuments in the vestibule are from the medieval church of Santo Stefano del Trullo, destroyed during the pontificate of Pope Alexander VII

Pope Alexander VII

Pope Alexander VII , born Fabio Chigi, was Pope from 7 April 1655, until his death.- Early life :Born in Siena, a member of the illustrious banking family of Chigi and a great-nephew of Pope Paul V , he was privately tutored and eventually received doctorates of philosophy, law, and theology from...

 (1655–1667). There are also paintings from the 17th and 18th centuries. The facade was completed by 1774 by Pietro Camporese the Elder

Pietro Camporese the Elder

-Life:He was the first of a family of architects active in Rome in the 18th and 19th centuries. His sons Giuseppe and Giulio are recorded as collaborating with their father on the building of the Duomo at Subiaco, and his grandchild Pietro Camporese the Younger , who led the reconstruction of...

, based on designs of Giovanni Francesco Braccioli

Giovanni Francesco Braccioli

Giovanni Francesco Braccioli was an Italian painter of the Baroque period, mainly active in Ferrara.Born in Ferrara, he first trained with Giacomo Parolini, and then with Giuseppe Maria Crespi in Bologna. He painted mainly religious altarpieces in Ferrara. On his return to Ferrara he painted for...

. The interior was redecorated by Cesare Mariani

Cesare Mariani

Cesare Mariani was an Italian painter and architect of the late-19th century, active in Rome and Ascoli Piceno. He continued the inveterate tradition of Italian religious frescoes with work at the cathedral of Sant'Emidio in Ascoli Piceno, the church of Madonna delle Grazie in the city of Teramo...

 in 1866.

Two chapels have paintings by followers of Caravaggio

Caravaggio

Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio was an Italian artist active in Rome, Naples, Malta, and Sicily between 1593 and 1610. His paintings, which combine a realistic observation of the human state, both physical and emotional, with a dramatic use of lighting, had a formative influence on the Baroque...

: the third chapel at right has a Virgin and Saints (1617) by Carlo Saraceni

Carlo Saraceni

Carlo Saraceni was an Italian early-Baroque painter, whose reputation as a "first-class painter of the second rank" was improved with the publication of a modern monograph in 1968....

, while the second chapel on the left has three canvasses – Deposition from the Cross, Crowning with the crown of thorns, and Flagellation of Christ (1635-1640) – attributed to the Frenchman Trophime Bigot

Trophime Bigot

Trophime Bigot , also known as Théophile Bigot, Teofili Trufemondi, Candlelight Master, Maître à la Chandelle, was a French painter of the Baroque era, active in Rome and his native Provence....

. Formerly these paintings were thought to be by the hand of Gerard van Honthorst

Gerard van Honthorst

Gerard van Honthorst , also known as Gerrit van Honthorst and in Italy as Gherardo delle Notti for his nighttime candlelit subjects, was a Dutch Golden Age painter from Utrecht.-Biography:...

.