– Anastasios
The 20s in the past century was a time of great social and political changes in Italy. A new party – the fascists – seized power and a new leader named Benito Mussolini imposed his will on the Italian people.
At the end of the First World War, a priest from the congregation of the Priests of the Sacred Heart, also known as Dehonian Fathers, wanted to build a church as tribute to those who died and as a call for peace in the world. Ottavio Gasparri, the priest who started the project in 1919, entrusted the responsibility of building the church to none other than Marcello Piacentini (1881-1960). Why do I emphasize his name? Not only because in the pre-fascist time he was already a well known architect, but especially because he will be “the” architect under fascism and Benito Mussolini. He was the most trusted voice in urbanistic matters from the Duce.
The church took several decades to build, being completed in the 30s and inaugurated in 1934. The relationship of Marcello Piacentini with fascism was not always friendly, especially at the end of the regime. Giovanni Duranti writes about his problem at the end of the regime in the Treccani encyclopedia: “In the aftermath of September 8, 1943, he was invited by the Nazi military authorities to join the Republic of Salò and move to the North. His refusal led to the confiscation of the villa on the Camilluccia and his arrest. Released a few days later, thanks to the intervention of the Holy See and Cardinal Giovanni Battista Montini, he found hospitality in the home of the engineer Francesco Guidi. Along with him he wrote a detailed chronicle of the urban development of the capital, which he published in a series of articles that appeared, between 1947 and 1952, on the pages of the magazine L’Urbe and then collected in volume (Le vicende edilizie…, 1952).
In the immediate post-war period, while engaged in his defense before the Central Commission for the purge of university staff, by virtue of the experience gained in previous decades and the prestige achieved, he received several invitations from foreign governments. He was invited to draw up the project for the University City of Sao Paulo in Brazil, make the urban plan of Caracas and to take on the role of general manager of all the works of the Turkish nation.
In view of the 1950 jubilee, Piacentini completed the works on via della Conciliazione, solving the centuries-old question of access to St Peter’s. By adopting the urban model of the road with backdrop, it acquired the image of the ideal city of Renaissance ancestry. The placement of obelisks for the illumination of the road axis, arranged in double rows to create two optical walls that visually narrowed it, created a real uproar and the controversies led to a parliamentary question. Yes, indeed the way Via della Conciliazione looks today, is due to the work of this architect.
The church built under the direction of Piacentini was a homage to the tradition of Roman churches: something between a Latin crux and a Greek crux. The church is thus described in an architectures website (archidiap.com): “The interior of the church is dominated by the red tone of the porphyritic floor, which detects and elevates the gray / red plaster surfaces of the walls and the large base of polished travertine. Few, sober accents of color and chiaroscuro are obtained with the green of the altars, with the golden barriers of the choirs and with the recesses of the confessionals. The frescoed surfaces of Achille Funi represent the most significant transgression to the general austerity of the interior. As for the decorative repertoire, the following should be mentioned: a Via Crucis by Alfredo Biagini, the group of S. Giovanni on the baptismal font, the bas-reliefs of the Cibori and the figures on the side lamps of the high altar by Corrado Vigni.”
It has three naves and until today is run by the Dehonians Fathers. Already in 1926, Pius XI had made this church a parish. Paul VI wanted the church to have a titular cardinal in 1965, and in the same year made the church a minor basilica (“Sacratissimo Cordi Christi Regis est dicatum, ad titulum ac dignitatem Basilicae Minoris evehimus...”).
So, this church, not distant from the Vatican, is a witness of a very turbulent time of Italian history and a testament to the work of one of the most famous architects in recent times.
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