Thesis title: La chiesa di Santa Maria della Consolazione al Foro Romano: vicende architettoniche e trasformazioni urbane
The church of Santa Maria della Consolazione at the Roman Forum stands beside the hospital of the same name, in the valley between the slopes of the Capitoline and Palatine Hills, near the archaeological heart of ancient Rome. With more than five centuries of history, the Consolazione has undergone a continuous process of transformation, evolving as a dynamic architectural organism within an exceptionally complex urban setting that itself has been repeatedly reshaped over time.
The primary aim of this doctoral dissertation is to reconstruct and interpret — across a chronological span from the fifteenth to the twentieth century — the constructional history of the church, examining its diachronic development and overall evolution from both architectural and urban perspectives. Particular attention is devoted to the reciprocal relationships between the building and its surrounding urban fabric.
The methodology adopted is interdisciplinary, combining historical research — grounded in bibliographic, archival, iconographic, and cartographic sources — with architectural surveying and digital modeling techniques, employed to verify and integrate historical data through direct and measurable engagement with the monument itself.
This investigation has made it possible to clarify previously undocumented construction phases, to identify new figures involved in the building process, and to reassess the role of well-known architects such as Giacomo Della Porta and Martino Longhi the Elder. Of particular significance is the recognition of a distinctive double-façade “through-church” typology, rooted in the close connection between the church, the adjacent hospital, and the surrounding urban structure — a configuration that persisted for over four centuries before being progressively altered by nineteenth- and twentieth-century transformations.
Ultimately, the dissertation presents a comprehensive interpretation of the Consolazione as both an architectural and an urban entity, where material substance intertwines with historical and symbolic dimensions. Far from being a static artifact, the building emerges as a living document — a tangible record of the enduring dialogue between the city of Rome and its architecture.