Waldensian Evangelical church

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Waldensian Evangelical church
Piazza Cavour
Rome, September 2019

“The Waldensian Community has very ancient origins and is rooted in the religious movement of the ‘Poor Men of Lyon’, that at the end of the XII century predicted the return to a humble and poor church. They were present in Italy already during the XIII century, especially in Piedmont. The Waldensians became part of the Protestant Reform in 1532. In Rome they had a worshipping location since 1883 but in 1910 the engineer Emanuele Rutelli and the architect Paolo Bonci were charged of building a new temple. In 1913 the building was completed: first church of the capital with supporting structure in reinforced concrete, state of the art technology in those years. The style of the church is a mixture of neoromantic elements and Liberty. The façade with a cupola covering has two towers at each side and a cylinder covering each one of them: these cylinders look like small towers, connecting the building to the adjacent ones. The access door has a mosaic lunette on top with the symbol of the Waldensians: a bible on which a candelabra is placed, with a lighted candle, surrounded by the inscription lux lucet in tenebris (light illuminates the dark). Above the entrance there is a loggia and even more above you can admire a circular rose window. The interior part is divided into three naves and it is in Liberty style with frescos of very shiny colours and polychrome glass windows with symbolic pictures.” (Waldensian Evangelical Church, Jubilee Cultural Routes)