Santi Bartolomeo ed Alessandro dei Bergamaschi

Santi Bartolomeo ed Alessandro dei Bergamaschi (Saints Bartholomew the Apostle and Alexander of Bergamo of the people of Bergamo) is a little church in Piazza Colonna in Rome, Italy, next to Palazzo Wedekind. Originally it was named Santa Maria della Pietà, from the high relief over the door. The present Santa Maria della Pietà in Rome is in Vatican City.

Santi Bartolomeo ed Alessandro dei Bergamaschi
Church of Saints Bartholomew and Alexander of the Bergamasques
Chiesa di Santi Bartolomeo ed Alessandro dei Bergamaschi
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41°54′02″N 12°28′48″E
Location	Via di Petra 70, Colonna, Rome
Country	Italy
Language(s)	Italian
Denomination	Catholic
Tradition	Roman Rite
Website	arciconfraternitabergamaschi.it
History
Status	regional church
Dedication	Bartholomew the Apostle and Alexander of Bergamo
Architecture
Functional status	active
Architectural type	Baroque
Groundbreaking	1591
Completed	1735
Administration
Diocese	Rome

In its origins (1591) the church was the chapel erected by padre Ferrante Ruiz for the Ospedale dei Pazzarelli, Rome's first insane asylum. When this was moved to Via della Lungara in the 1720s, the church was given over to the Archiconfraternità dei Bergamaschi, who rebuilt it in 1731–35 to designs of Giuseppe Valvassori, added their patron saint to its dedication and used the hospital for their own sick. It is the burial place of Cardinal Giuseppe Alessandro Furietti, antiquarian and native of Bergamo.

It is looked after by the Arciconfraternità, a historic association of Bergamaschi living in Rome that was begun in 1539. It supports understanding of the culture, the values and the traditions of Bergamo and their fertile dialogue with those of Rome.

The Church hosted a painting of the Seven Archangels whose names had been scratched out by order of Cardinal Albizzi.

References

• Touring Club Italiano (TCI), Roma e Dintorni 1962:175.

External links

• Bergamo local site (in Italian)