Church of Sant'Anna dei Parafrenieri - Vatican City State
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N 41° 54.242 E 012° 27.449
33T E 289111 N 4642247
The Church of Saint Anne in the Vatican, known as Sant'Anna dei Parafrenieri is a Roman Catholic parish church of the State of Vatican City located beside the Porta Sant'Anna (Saint Anne's Gate), an international border crossing between Vatican City State and Italy.
Waymark Code: WM10MRG
Location: Vatican City State
Date Posted: 05/29/2019
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On 20 November 1565, Pope Pius IV authorized the Archconfraternity of the Pontifical Grooms to build a church dedicated to Saint Anne close to the Apostolic Palace. The construction began that same year on a design attributed to Renaissance architect Giacomo Barozzi da Vignola. It was one of the first churches in Rome with an elliptical plan. According to David Watkin, Vignola introduced the oval plan to church design for the first time in the churches of Sant'Andrea in Via Flaminia and Saint Anne in the Vatican, pioneering a plan which was to become influential to Baroque architecture.
After a smooth start, the construction of the church slowed because the Archconfraternity was in financial trouble. After Vignola's death in 1573, the church was finished by his son Giacinto Barozzi, according to a payment made by the Archconfraternity. When it was consecrated in 1583 it had a temporary roof. The facade attributed to Borromini and later attached to the oval church prefigured the facade of the church of Sant'Agnese in Agone in attempting to reconciled a front with five bats to two towers. The facade was completed between 1700 and 1721 by Alessandro Specchi while the dome was finally built in 1763 and completed in 1775.
The church belonged to the Archconfraternity until the Lateran Treaties of 1929, which constituted the Vatican City. Pope Pius XI erected the church into a parish, with the Apostolic Constitution "Ex Lateranensi pacto" of 30 May 1929. The pastoral care of the new parish was entrusted to the Augustinian Order.
The interior, built to Vignola's design, is elliptical with eight side chapels. The main entrance is located at one end of the major axis of the ellipse. The minor axis ends with two chapels.
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