If you are a contemporary architecture buff, you may want to visit the Church of Dio Padre Misericordioso or Jubilee Church. This is the church that American architect Richard Meier designed for the Jubilee year 2000. It is in the Tor Tre Teste neighborhood or, for most of us, in the middle of nowhere (Tor Tre Teste inhabitants please forgive me). Yes, it may indeed be a tad difficult to get to this isolated neighborhood but the real architecture buff knows no obstacles!

Once there, you will be able to witness a true masterpiece of engineering and architecture. Meier, also creator of the controversial building enclosing the Ara Pacis, designed it as part of a 1995 international architecture competition. The first stone was laid in 1998 and the church was inaugurated in 2003. The structure is composed of three white sails, evocative of a boat and symbolizing the Church navigating into the third millennium.

There is lots more symbolism of course: three sails as in the Trinity, five bells as in the five continents… While the church has lots of glass, it is designed so as to never allow direct sunlight inside. Supposedly though, there is a period in the summertime when sun-rays can filter through to the altar through a small opening in the back.

A note of interest: the church is built with a special coating which is supposed to have self-cleaning and smog-eating properties. Perhaps most buildings in Rome’s historic center should be redone with this material!