Santa Maria della Vittoria
Santa Maria della Vittoria—Chiesa di Santa Maria della Vittoria—belongs to the Discalced Carmelites and it’s dedicated to Our Lady of Victories. It starts as a story of a chapel: the land was purchased on April 20, 1607, and construction ran from 1608 to 1620, first as a chapel dedicated to Saint Paul. Then comes the turning point. After the Catholic victory associated with the Battle of White Mountain in 1620, the church was rededicated to the Virgin Mary—an emphatically political act, made spiritual. Here’s the surprise woven into the walls: the church is the home of Gian Lorenzo Bernini’s masterpiece, the Ecstasy of Saint Teresa. And the church leans into that same “victory” theme in a very literal way—Ottoman standards captured at the 1683 Battle of Vienna were later hung in the church. …
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