The Church Of The Most Holy Name Of Mary In Rome, Italy Editorial Image

The Church of the Most Holy Name of Mary at the Trajan Forum and the church Santa Maria di Loreto located just across the street from the Trajan s Column, near the giant Monument of Vittorio Emanuele II in Rome Italy. The construction Santa Maria di Loreto began in 1507 by Antonio da Sangallo the younger, with an octagonal floor plan; the dome and the lantern were completed by Jacopo del Duca some 75 years later. The church was built atop an earlier 15th century chapel, which contained an icon of the Virgin of Loreto, hence the church retained the icon and acquired the title. It is most notable for the adjacent erection of a similarly domed, but pale marble, 18th-century church Santissimo Nome di Maria al Foro Traiano, giving the semblance of twin churches. The feast of the Holy Name of Mary was instituted by Pope Innocent XI after the victory of the Austrian-Polish armies under the command of John III Sobieski over the Turks at the Battle of Vienna in 1683.