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The Parish Church and Sanctuary of St Mary of the Well: Six Centuries of Devotion in the Castelli Romani
The Church of Santa Maria del Pozzo is the principal place of worship in Nemi, in the heart of the Castelli Romani. Built in the early 17th century at the behest of Mario and Pompeo Frangipane, it stands on the site of an older chapel, erected in the 12th century by Cistercian monks, above a well, from which the name derives. With a single nave, six side chapels, and a transept: it is one of the area’s largest churches.
Constructed in Stages
The church works formed part of the Frangipane plan to reshape the medieval village: the walls came down, the castle became a palace, the settlement grew in size. Mario Frangipane died in 1654 without seeing the church completed. From that moment, the alms of the people of Nemi would fund the remaining works. In 1747, Cardinal Carafa entrusted the care of the building to the Confraternita del Santissimo Sacramento (Confraternity of the Most Holy Sacrament). They continue to look after it today.
What to See Inside
The most precious work is the 15th-century triptych, attributed to Antoniazzo Romano (real name: Antonio Aquili): three tempera panels depicting Christ in Benediction flanked by Saints John the Baptist and John the Evangelist. In the chapel of the right transept, dedicated to the Madonna del Pozzo with Saints Philip and James — the patron saints of the village — a 16th-century painting survives from the original church. Above the entrance is a pipe organ dating from 1847, moved to here from the church of Ara Coeli in Rome in 1936. The present façade is the work of Giuseppe Camporese, created in the early 19th century.
