Santa Maria della Concezione (Egyptian Arabic: كنيسه سانتا ماريا ديلا كونسيزيونى فى كامبو مارزيو) is a church in Rome, located on Piazza Campo Marzio in the Campo Marziorione. It serves as the national church in Rome for Syriac Catholics.
History
Church exterior
The church and its adjoining monastery traditionally originated in connection with the Iconoclastic controversy within the Byzantine Empire, when some Basilian nuns fled from Constantinople to Rome in the 8th century. They brought with them various relics, including the body of Gregory of Nazianzus. They were given a home on the site now occupied by the church, where they founded a monastery with a chapel dedicated to the Virgin Mary and an oratory next to the church to contain Gregory's remains. The earliest reference to the monastery is Regestum Sublacense, a charter of 6 October 937.
Between 1562 and 1564 abbess Chiarina Colonna (from the powerful Colonna family) built a new church dedicated to the Virgin Mary behind the ancient chapel and oratory of Saint Gregory, accessible via the convent or from outside it. It had a single nave and a rectangular apse. Saint Gregory's body was translated to the Basilica of St Peter in 1580.
In the 17th century the convent was enlarged and re-ordered by Carlo Maderno and Francesco Peparelli, with work completed by 1660. The 16th century church was completely rebuilt according to the wishes of abbess Maria Olimpia Pani, to plans by Giovanni Antonio De Rossi.
