I thought I knew the history of the building where we live, but after looking it up on the internet, I found some facts that I was unaware of. I heard that our building was an old monastery that was converted into a hospice. This made sense to me because I see elderly people in the courtyard almost every day and there always seems to be a few nuns around taking care of them. The building is three sided, wrapping around a central, square courtyard. The fourth side is a tall stone wall that blocks the courtyard from the sidewalk and street. Though the building is called Santa Maria, I never really considered it to be a church. When I looked it up, I found that it was a church, built in 1090 and dedicated to the Virgin Mary. "In Cappella" means "at the chapel" but the phrase was taken from the word "cuppelle", meaning barrells. The Guild of Barrellmakers took over the church in the 15th century, hence the name.
The building changed hands again after this - the sister-in-law of Pope Innocent X, Donna Olimpia Pamphilj, made the courtyard a playground, but her later relatives transformed the building and courtyard into an elderly home. It was the first home established in Rome, and it is amazing that it is still serving the same purpose today. Now that I know the history I feel even luckier to be living in such a beautiful place.
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