Santa Maria della Stella 


Bishop Bartolomeo Accoramboni founded a hospice and nunnery here in 1254.  According to tradition, he saw a bright star shining on a well on this site and when he investigated the following day he discovered the bodies of abandoned babies inside it.  He therefore built the hospice in order to care for abandoned children. 

In the document by which he established the hospice, Bishop Accoramboni criticised the canons of San Gregorio Maggiore for their dereliction in allowing their old hospice (which stood nearby) to fall into dilapidation.  He prohibited them from interfering in the new foundation, although in fact close links developed between the canons and the hospice.

Bishop Accoramboni acquired this site from the canons of San Gregorio Maggiore in February 1254 and laid the foundation stone of the new hospice in March.  Work was completed in a few months.  He then established an adjacent nunnery under the Augustinian rule, and introduced a dispensation for the nuns to allow them to care for the inhabitants of the hospice (pilgrims, orphans and the sick).  He moved the few remaining nuns from San Tommaso to the new nunnery in 1259.

The nunnery became one of the most important and one of the richest in Umbria.   In 1392, the nuns took over the hospice at San Matteo (see Walk II).  The Blessed Marina Petrucciani (see below) and a few other nuns moved from Santa Maria della Stella to San Matteo in 1473, in order to form a reformed community.  At this point, the activities of the hospice at San Matteo transferred to Santa Maria della Stella.  

The nuns of Santa Maria della Stella decided to join the Lateran Congregation of the Augustinian Canonesses in 1502.   A number of the nuns who did not want to make this change moved to Sant' Angelo (see Walk II) in 1519.

From this point, the hospice began to decline and the nuns became the subject of widespread criticism.  The authorities attempted  to separate the hospice from the nunnery in 1639 but they were unable to satisfy the nuns on the arrangements for the division of the associated income and property.  They no longer cared for the sick: nor did they provide accommodation for pilgrims: and in 1726 they transferred the remaining orphans in their care to San Spirito, Rome.  A few of them died during this journey, and the resulting scandal prompted Pope Clement XII into action.  He sent Monsignor Martino Innico Caracciolo to Spoleto in 1738 to reform the provision of care for the sick and for orphans in the city.  He formally removed from the nuns any obligation to care for the orphans, in return for an annual payment that was to be directed to

The nunnery was suppressed in 1798, at which point the complex was adapted to serve as a barracks (Caserma Minervio) and military hospital.   The canonesses managed to keep their community in existence at the Conservatorio delle Convertite [in Via Vaita de Domo - does it still exist ?]  and, in 1903, they moved to San Ponziano.

The canonesses revere two of their number as saints:

  • the Blessed Marina Petrucciani.  She had taken vows in Santa Maria della Stella and then founded the associated nunnery of San Matteo, where she died in 1502.  Her relics were venerated at Santa Maria della Stella and the canonesses later took them to San Ponziano. 

SS Stefano e Tommaso (1786-93)


Originally, there were two churches in the complex:

  • the nuns' church of Santa Maria della Stella (1254); and
  • the hospital chapel of San Stefano (1259).

These were replaced by the current church, which is formally known as SS Stefano e Tommaso, although it is usually referred to as Santa Maria della Stella.

Nunnery and Hospice

The ancient hospice stood to the left of the church. 

The nunnery extended along Via dell' Anfiteatro (to the right in the illustration at the top of the page) as far as the ruins of the Roman amphitheatre.

[The passage to the right of the church leads to the cloister ?]

Art from Santa Maria della Stella

Painted Crucifixes

Two painted Crucifixes from the church, one from the 13th century and one from the early 14th century, are now in Room 9 of the Museo del Ducato di Spoleto.

Triptych (14th century)

This important triptych, which is attributed to the Maestro di Cesi, is now the  Musee Marmottan, Paris.  It was sold illegally after the closure of the church in 1860.  Giuseppe Sordini tried to locate it in the perio 1892-4 but failed.  It was recognised in 1956 in the collection of the Rothschild family in Cap Ferrat. 

The central panel contains a representation of the Assumption of the Virgin that is based on that by Cimabue on the altar wall of the upper church of San Francesco, Assisi.  The side panels contain scenes that recount the events leading up to her death.

Tabernacle (1523)

This tabernacle, which is attributed to Benedetto Grazzini da Rovezzano, is now in  San Gregorio Maggiore. 


Return the Walk II.