The
Basilica di Sacro Cuore di Gesù al Castro Pretorio (Basilica of the Sacred Heart of Jesus at the Praetorian Barracks) is located near the Termini train station, across from the largest remaining section of the Servian Wall. It is built on the Esquiline hill at the highest point in Rome near what once was the barracks of the Praetorian Guard, in Rione XVIII.
For reference, a plan of the church is available
here.
St.
Don Bosco had the church built in the
1880's for the
Salesian Order, which he founded. Pope Pius IX, friend of Don Bosco, was responsible for the acquisition
of the land on Esquillino Hill on where the Basilica was to be built. The architect of the Basilica was
Francesco Vespignani,
son of the great architect Virginio Vespignani, "the architect of Pope Pius IX." The foundation stone was laid in 1870. However, the annexation of Rome
by the Kingdom of Italy delayed matters, and the building was finally finished in 1887. The Basilica was consecrated in April 1887.
This was the first parish church built after the capture of Rome and it became a parish in February 2, 1879.
