The Great Opera and Ballet

Visit: Oratorio di San Francesco Saverio del Caravita, Via del Caravita 7, 00186 Rome Italy

The Oratory of San Francesco Saverio del Caravita (St. Francis Xavier “del Caravita”) is a 17th-century baroque oratory in Rome, near the Church of Sant’Ignazio in rione Pigna. The current oratory is built over the ruins of the late twelfth century Church of San Nicola de Forbitoribus by the Jesuit Pietro Gravita, from 1631-1633, with the financial support of a number of noble families who resided in the neighborhood near the Pantheon. The oratory was originally dedicated to Santa Maria della Pietà (Our Lady of Pity) in addition to the great Jesuit missionary Saint Francis Xavier. It was the first nocturnal oratory in Rome.

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart performed at Caravita as a teenager in 1770, captivating the royal court of Rome.