Church of San Lazzaro in Borgo

The Church of San Lazzaro, also known as San Lazzaro dei lebbrosi or San Lazzaro in Borgo is located in Rome.

The building dates back to the end of the 12th century, when a French pilgrim, to thank God for his recovery from leprosy, collected offerings and founded a church dedicated to Saint Mary Magdalene (on a pre-existing oratory or sacred aedicule dating back to the 10th century); next to the church there was an inn, where pilgrims refreshed themselves for the last time before arriving in the city.

An “ecclesiam sancte Marie Magdalene ad pedem Montis Mali” (now Monte Mario) is attested in a document dated 11 May 1278, while notarial deeds from 1480 attest to the foundation of a lazaret adjacent to the church: it is on this occasion that the church changed his name in the current one.

Severely damaged by the Landsknechts in 1527, it was restored in 1536 and erected as a parish.

It remained so until 1828; later the church fell into ruin; and what remained of the lazaretto (a portal, some columns and some walls) finally collapsed in 1937.

Only in the second half of the 20th century did recovery works on the sacred building begin, which culminated with the restorations carried out from 1997 to 2004, which led to the renovation of the roof and internal flooring.

The church was reopened to the public and for worship in 1981.

The church is remembered in ancient chronicles for several reasons: the popes who were elected outside Rome began their procession to take possession of the city starting from this church; the emperors who came to Rome to be crowned by the Pope stopped in this church waiting to receive the papal messengers who accompanied them to St. Peter's; finally, the location of the church represented a sort of "cordon sanitaire" for quarantine when serious epidemics broke out.

Of the medieval structures, the church and the ancient inn remain, while a car park was built on the site of the ancient hospital of Rome in the seventies of the 20th century.

Map: Church of San Lazzaro in Borgo