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Cappella del Casale della Marcigliana is an 18th century farmstead chapel at Salita della Marcigliana in the Marcigliana zone. The locality is on the outskirts of the suburb of Settebagni.

History[]

The Casale della Marcigliana is an old Campagna farmstead, known to date from at least 1547 when it featured on a map drawn by Eufrosino della Volpaia. However, the proximity of the ancient Via Salaria raises the reasonable suspicion that the farm occupies an ancient villa complex, and that the present edifices contain mediaeval fabric.

However, the tower here is being confused with the genuinely mediaeval ruined tower in a field on its own over to the east, on the other side of the Via della Marcigliana north-east of the Campus Terna business park. This is the Torre della Bufalotta.

The visible fabric of the farmstead seems to be 16th and 17th century, or a bit earlier. However, in the 18th century the Gabrielli family provided a little public chapel which was the original place of worship for the locality.

The local parish of Sant’Antonio da Padova a Via Salaria was erected in 1938, and it seems that public Masses ceased here around then. The Diocese does not list the chapel as a place of worship, so it might now be deconsecrated. However, it is hard to find out the status of obscure private chapels such as this one.

Apperance[]

The farmstead consists of two separate edifices, a large block and a separate stable wing which are connected by a tall pair of screen walls to create an enclosed courtyard. The main block contains a four-storey tower, which might be mediaeval in origin although the fabric shows no sign of this.

This tower stands right on the approach drive, which continues along the near screen wall to the stable block. Just beyond it, at the start of the wall next to the left hand corner of the tower, is a doorway topped by a large circular tondo in a wreath. This is the chapel entrance. The chapel itself is a lean-to addition with a singly pitched and tiled roof, and is very small.

A vertical rectangular window is above the entrance, and at the apex of the roof pitch is a short horizontal stretch of wall bearing a campanile or bell-cote. This is in limestone, gabled with a round-headed aperture for a single bell.

External links[]

Info.roma web-page

"Marcigliana in rete" web-page

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