Santa Maria delle Grazie alle Fornaci, the most imposing monument of the area around Porta Cavalleggeri, is an 18th century Baroque parish and titular church just south of Vatican City in the Aurelio quarter. The dedication is to the Blessed Virgin Mary under her title of
Our Lady of Graces.
For reference, a plan of the church is available
here.
The original small wooden church founded in the 15th century, and served a small village, called "Borgo delle Fornaci", which became important as a site for preparing materials for the building of the new St Peter’s. The name Fornaci refers to kilns used for making bricks for the work.
The church was rebuilt, starting in 1694, from drawings by Francesco Multò for the Discalced Trinitarians (a Spanish reform of the Trinitarian order), whose monastery was adjacent, and in 1720 Filippo Raguzzini added the Baroque façade.
After the French occupation of Rome in the early 19th century, the church was stripped of almost all the sacred furnishings, the real estate confiscated and the church was abandoned. Restorations began by the architect Filippo Niccoletti in 1817.
In the years 1951-52 important restoration works were carried out in the church, especially on the roof, and the bell tower begun thirty years earlier and remained unfinished was completed. Also, at this time the high alter was moved from the center of the apse to the back wall.
