Madonna del Buon Consiglio a Via della Camilluccia is an early 19th century deconsecrated chapel at Via della Camilluccia 149 in the Della Vittoria quarter north of Monte Mario.
The dedication is to the Blessed Virgin Mary, under her title of "Our Lady of Good Counsel".
History[]
The Via della Camilluccia was originally a private driveway laid out by Camillo Borghese, a husband of Pauline Bonaparte, when the area was completely rural. This track ran round the back of a 17th century villa called the Villa dei Sette Canelli, the main entrance of which was on the Via Trionfale.
The villa was purchased by the Collegio Capranica after its re-opening in 1807, as a country retreat and vacation centre for the staff and students. Although the church of San Francesco d'Assisi a Monte Mario is fairly near, a small public chapel was built on the driveway next to the back gateway of the villa.
The driveway became a public road in 1887, but the locality remained rural until after the Second World War. The college sold the property in 1940, and it became a private psychiatric unit. Then in 1971 the estate was cleared for apartment blocks, and the chapel was deconsecrated. However it remains in good repair (although scruffy), as a small private house.
The pastoral focus for the area shifted to the Centro Don Orione across the road, latterly the parish church of Santa Maria Mater Dei.
Appearance[]
The tiny chapel has a single nave on a rectangular plan, with a smaller sanctuary block attached which has a sacristy to its right. The side walls have two stone-framed rectangular windows to the left, and one to the right. The walls were painted in a pale yellow, and the roof is pitched and tiled.
The façade is framed by a pair of Doric pilasters supporting an entablature and a slightly oversized triangular pediment. The latter is false, as the roof behind it is lower. There is no window, but only the single entrance with a stone door-case. This is approached by three steps, hinting that the chapel has a crypt.