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The Church of St Mary of Mercy in Marano Equo: stucco and silence in the Aniene Valley
The Church of Santa Maria della Pietà is one of the three places of worship in In the historic centre of Marano Equo, a village in the Aniene Valley at the foot of the Ruffi Mountains. Pilasters divide the simple and orderly façade into three sections: at the centre, a rectangular portal, flanked by two semicircular niches, above it a rectangular window. The name of the village makes reference to the ancient Aequi, the Italic people who inhabited the valley before the rise of Rome.
The interior
There is a single nave covered by a masonry barrel vault, with one chapel on each side. The floor is in terracotta tiles. Access to the presbytery is through a round arch: here the vault is repeated, and the smooth back wall receives the aedicule of the altar. Stucco decorations adorn the triumphal arch and the presbyterial area, a touch of elegance in an intimate space.
The village of water
The sources tapped by the Romans for the Aqua Marcia and Aqua Claudia aqueducts sprang forth from the foot of the hill. The Sanctuary of the Madonna della Quercia (Our Lady of the Oak Tree), just one kilometre from the village, boasts 15th-century frescoes.
