Church of Santa Maria in Araceli

The Church of Santa Maria in Areceli is one of the most important examples of Baroque architecture in the Veneto.
Its name does not derive from the Aracoeli of the Campidoglio, as is often erroneously assumed, but from the Latin "Ad Cellam", changed through time to "Alla Cella", than into "Aracella", and eventually into "Araceli", a name which derives from the little convent of nuns which stood here in the 13th century.
The church was rebuilt between 1675 and 1680 by Carlo Borella, the builder of the Basilica of Monte Berico, following the design of the Teatine friar Guarino Guarini.
The floor plan is elliptical inside a rectangle; the central space is covered by a dome.
The three altars are among the most interesting masterpieces of Baroque architecture in Vicenza. The main altar has the "Prophesy by the Tiburtian Sybil to Augustus: the Virgin will bear a Son" by Marco Liberi, a reference to the past attribution of the name of the church to the Roman Aracoeli.
The other two altars had two paintings now kept in the Pinacoteca of Palazzo Chiericati: "The Immaculate Virgin" by Giovan Battista Tiepolo, and "The Ecstasy of St Francis" by Piazzetta.

Text approved by the Arts Office of the Diocese of Vicenza

Address: piazza Araceli, 21 - tel. 0444 514438 - fax 0444 319749

Feast-day Masses: 19.00

Opening times: Saturday 14.30-18.30; (telephone reservation)