The deconsecrated church of Santa Marta al Collegio Romano, located in the Piazza del Collegio Romano in the very central Rione Pigna of Rome, since the 24th of October 2017 has been assigned and opened to the public as a restoration workshop of Istituto Superiore per la Conservazione e il Restauro (High Institute for Conservation and Restoration), a national school operating in Via San Michele a Trastevere.

All Santa Marta visitors have now a chance to approach the actual job of Italian restoration tradition, by getting in touch with the professional restores who, while working, can explain their adopted methodologies. Among the various frescos under restoration, also some 7.000 painted plaster fragments are present, dated to the 1st Century AD and retrieved from an archeological dig conducted by University of Rome “Tor Vergata” in Via Galvano della Volpe.

Visits to Santa Marta restorations are totally free of charge and accessible by simply booking at the institute Internet website

Source: Horti Hesperidum Article by Jessica Consalvi