Santa Maria dell’Anima

Santa Maria dell'Anima Our Lady of the Soul (English)
Façade of the church.
Basic information
Location	Rome
Geographic coordinates	41°53′59.1″N 12°28′19.3″E / 41.899750°N 12.472028°E / 41.899750; 12.472028Coordinates: 41°53′59.1″N 12°28′19.3″E / 41.899750°N 12.472028°E / 41.899750; 12.472028
Affiliation	Roman Catholic
Country	Italy
Year consecrated	1542
Ecclesiastical or organizational status	National Church in Rome of Germany
Leadership	Don Franz Xaver Brandmayr
Website	www.santa-maria-anima.it
Architectural description
Architect(s)	Andrea Sansovino, Giuliano da Sangallo
Architectural type	Church
Architectural style	hall church
Groundbreaking	1386
Completed	1522
Specifications
Direction of façade	E
Length	40 metres (130 ft)
Width	30 metres (98 ft)

Santa Maria dell'Anima (English: Our Lady of the Soul) is a Roman Catholic church in central Rome, Italy, just west of the Piazza Navona and near the Santa Maria della Pace church. It was founded during the course of the 14th century by Dutch merchants, who at that time belonged to the Holy Roman Empire. In the course of the 15th century, it became the national church of the whole Holy Roman Empire in Rome and henceforth the national church of Germany and hospice of German-speaking people in Rome.

According to tradition, the church received its name, from the picture of Our Lady which forms its coat of arms (the Blessed Virgin between two souls). Among the artworks housed inside is the Holy Family by Giulio Romano. It is the resting place of the Dutch Pope Adrian VI as well as of Cardinals William of Enckenvoirt and Andrew of Austria.

Santa Maria dell'Anima is one of the many medieval charity institutions built for pilgrims in Rome. The church found its origin in 1350, when Johannes (Jan) and Katharina Peters of Dordrecht bought three houses and turned it into a private hospice for pilgrims, at the occasion of the Jubilee of 1350. Jan Peters may have been a Dutch merchant or papal soldier; Dordrecht belonged to a region which later became independent as the Netherlands. They named the hospice "Beatae Mariae Animarum" ("Saint Mary of the Souls"). It was erected on its present site in 1386. In the 15th century Santa Maria dell'Anima expanded to be a hostel for visitors from the entire Holy Roman Empire, though initially the occupants were primarily from the Low Countries and (from the middle 15th century) the Rhineland.