Santa Maria Maddalena

delle Repentute (14th century) 

The Commune established a nunnery here in 1345 in houses belonging to Pelloso de Filippuccio.  It was intended for women who repented of their worldly way of life, and was thus dedicated as "Sancta Maria Magdalenis de Repentutis".  The commune was forced to intervene in 1351 because of the scandalous behaviour of the nuns. 

The nuns followed an Augustinian rule until 1382, when their community was placed under the auspices of the Benedictine Monastero di Santa Caterina.  In 1409, they received permission from the Commune to enlarge their church and nunnery.  The association between the two communities continued intermittently until 1590, when it was definitively severed. 

Pope Innocent VIII removed the nunnery from the Bishop's supervision in 1487, and placed it under the protection of the Cassinese monks of San Pietro.  This association with San Pietro was terminated in 1703, when the nuns returned to episcopal control.  They acquired adjacent properties in Via del Grillo from the Consevatorio dei Derelitte (see Walk IV) in 1704.

Santa Maria Maddelena was closed in the period 1810-15, and again in 1860, when its nuns moved to Santa Caterina.  Their old complex now belongs to the Carabiniari.  Its cloister (14th century) survives inside, but cannot be visited.

Works Removed from the Church

Communion of St Mary Magdalene (1738)

This altarpiece by Sebastiano Conca is now in the Galleria Nazionale (Room 40).

Return to Walk IV.