Neo-Gothic Architecture 

The Church of St. Alphonsus Liguori, Rome.

 

The church of Sant’Alfonso all’Esquilino is a place of Catholic worship in Rome, located in the Esquilino district, via Merulana. Architecture and historical notes The church was built between 1855 and 1859 on the design of Scottish architect George Wigley. It is one of the rare examples of Neo-Gothic style in Rome. The Armellini gives her a review negative: “The architecture of the church is rather ostrogothic than Gothic” (cf., p. 813). IS one of the last churches of papal Rome, and although consecrated to the Most Holy Redeemer, it is known as the church of Sant’Alfonso, founder of the Redemptorists, to whom belongs to the entire annexed complex.

Facade
The facade, brick and travertine, which is accessed after a large staircase, is presented
conportico, on which three doors open; in the central eardrum there is
a polychrome mosaic depicting the Virgin of Perpetual Relief among Angels, and
on the cusp of the eardrum the statue of the marble Redeemer of Carrara. The facade is
further embellished by a rosette.

Internal
The interior of the church has three naves, enriched by polychrome marbles, with
six side chapels on the side. The interior decorations date back to the end of the nineteenth century, and they are
the work of the Bavarian painter and brother of the Redemptorists Max Schmalzl (1850-1930). The apse is

crowned by a mosaic, set up in 1964, depicting the Redeemer on the throne between
Virgin Mary and Saint Joseph. At the tall altar is an icon of Cretan origin
of the 14th century depicting the Madonna of Perpetual Assistance, donated
to Redentoristida Pius IX in 1866.

Pipe organ
On the chapel in the counterfaced position is the cane organ of the church; this, which incorporates
part of the sound material of a previous instrument, made by Charles
Anneessens in 1898, was built in 1932 by the company Tamburini and the same
restored in 1982. The whole phonic body is placed inside the wooden case
monumental original neo-gothic style, realized on a project
of the German architect Maximilian Schmalzl.
The organ has two keyboards of 61 notes each and a concave-radial pedal of 32.