Madonna delle Grazie a Vigna Mangani was a later 20th century public chapel located at Via di Vigna Mangani 21, in the Pietralata quarter near the Via Nomentana.
The dedication was to the Blessed Virgin Mary, under her title of Our Lady of Graces.
History[]
This was a dependent chapel of the parish of San Fedele da Sigmaringa, established in a self-contained little suburb tucked away against a railway line. Apparently it was consecrated in the early Sixties.
Regular liturgical events ceased at the end of the 20th century, but the edifice was listed as consecrated by the Diocese until 2012. In that year there was a serious fire which has left the building derelict, and the chapel's entry in the diocesan website has been deleted.
The chapel was still standing in 2016, and presumably awaits the allocation of funds to demolish it.
Appearance[]
The street is a rather strange and narrow cul-de-sac following the railway. The chapel stands parallel to the latter, overlooking a car-park which the local residents find useful.
The edifice consists of a hut in pink brick of six bays, with a pitched and tiled roof. The left hand side wall displays five rectangular windows, but the far bay has a side entrance. The right hand side wall was party with an appended ancillary range which occupied the whole length of the chapel on that side. This shared the right hand roof pitch of the chapel, which covered it in a cat-slide.
After the chapel fell into disuse, this range was taken over by squatters. The near part contained a carpenter's workshop, and the far part housed a family which had been evicted from elsewhere. The windows in between the chapel and the range were filled with breeze-blocks.
The 2012 fire destroyed the workshop, which has been demolished, and also compromised the chapel roof on that side. The family accommodation was left standing, but has lost most of its roof.
The façade has a single entrance with a small canopy supported by wooden struts. Above is a large round window with a curlicued iron grille.
There is a small campanile or bell-cote over the left hand end of the far wall, consisting of two brick piers supporting a little gabled tiled cap. The bell was still there in 2016, which is an odd survival.