In severe decline, the church of S. Maria in Via was rebuilt by Innocent VIII in 1491. However, it is not known whether the reconstruction work also involved the 13th-century chapel of the Well, which at that time was still external to the church. Once again in need of radical restoration, the church was rebuilt in its current form between the late 16th and early 17th centuries based on designs by Martino Longhi the Elder: the main works were completed in 1604 with the financial support of the then titular cardinal Roberto Bellarmino, though in reality the new building—which finally included the Chapel of the Well—was not perfected until 1670. Further restorations were necessary during the 18th century and, after the destruction caused by the Napoleonic sack, in the first half of the 19th century.

**Description:** According to Cecchelli, the icon dates from the 12th–13th century and is of Roman school. The Madonna appears to be painted in fresco on a tile or flint. The scholar suggests that the current icon may only be a fragment of a larger fresco depicting the Madonna and Child.
**First recorded use:** between the year 1256 and 1256
**Epiphany:** of the icon of the Madonna of the Well
**Image:** Painting, Icon
**Relic:** Other
**Location:** Fonte

**Notes on the collection:** The ex-votos are not visible to the public.
**Types of ex-votos:** Luminaries, Jewelry, Photographs

The church’s archives were lost during the Sack of Rome in 1527 and later with the suppression of religious orders in 1809. Scholars studying the history of this church attribute the lack of records of the many graces and miracles—which all authors claim occurred through the miraculous image and the water of the well—to these destructions.

The evocative founding legend has reached us only in rather late versions (one edition is found in C. Cecchelli, *S. Maria in Via…* [cited]). However, the historical precision of certain details common to all these versions suggests they derive from a written account not long after the events described): it is said that on the night between September 26 and 27, 1256, in the stable of Cardinal Pietro Capocci (a building evidently adjacent to the church of S. Maria in Via), the waters of the well used to water the horses suddenly flooded the floor. Floating on the water was a tile bearing the image of Mary. Since none of the cardinal’s attendants could grasp the image—which, though floating unnaturally, submerged again with every attempt to seize it—they resolved to call the cardinal himself, who, after devout prayer, easily retrieved the icon. The waters then miraculously returned to their natural level. The following day, after spending the night in prayer, the prelate recounted the miraculous event to the pope and announced his intention to build a shrine at his own expense on the site. After ordering a thorough investigation and confirming the facts, Alexander VI decreed that the icon be carried in solemn procession and exposed for the veneration of the faithful. Tradition then speaks of the construction of a church, though it must have been a chapel encompassing the well—a chapel that would only be incorporated into the church three and a half centuries later. It is also said that Cardinal Capocci adorned the chapel with numerous relics, including a fragment of the well of the patriarch Jacob, upon which, it is told, Jesus sat when converting the Samaritan woman.

A plaque in the sanctuary commemorates the miraculous apparition of the image.

Gregory XIII (1572–85) granted a plenary indulgence on the day of the Nativity of Mary, on the Friday after the third Sunday of Lent (once the feast of the conversion of the Samaritan woman), on Holy Saturday, and on the first three feast days of Easter. He also granted 50 days’ indulgence to those who attended the litanies sung in the evening at the altar of the Madonna of the Well. Furthermore, he extended to this church the indulgences obtainable by visiting the Madonna del Popolo and the Madonna della Pace, ordering that the Madonna of the Well also be displayed from Mid-Lent to the third feast of Easter (POMPILIO TOTTI, *Ritratto di Roma moderna*, Mascardi, Rome 1638, p. 314: “This miraculous image is unveiled, like those of the Popolo and the Pace, from Mid-Lent until Easter, for which time Gregory XIII granted indulgence…”). Gregory XV later granted a plenary indulgence also on the day of the Annunciation.

The initial patronage is undoubtedly attributable to the founder of the sanctuary, Cardinal Pietro Capocci.

Via del Mortaro, 24, 00187 Rome, Italy