"Santa Maria dell'Orazione e Morte" Christian Rome Tip by jungles

The name of this church translates as 'Saint Mary in Prayer and Death.' It was built in 1576 and belonged to a confraternity who took it upon themselves to give a proper burial to the poor people of Rome whose bodies were often just left out in the open to rot. To finance these burials, the confraternity depended on offerings from the faithful. The photo here is of one of the two offering collections points built into the facade of the church. The Latin writing on the banner held up by the skeleton reminds people, 'Today it is me; tomorrow it will be you.' There are other morbid decorations found in the church; skulls are rather prominent on both the interior and exterior of the building. The church is generally open only on Sunday evenings when mass is held at 6pm; you can slip in a bit earlier to get a peek at the inside, which is very small.

On the corner of Via Giulia and Via dei Farnesi. Photo by liamr.