Rome, the common home of us all
From the hustle and bustle of the Roman metropolis, a small winding uphill road leads to a green oasis, at number 38 Via Francesco Tamagno, where Villa Mater Redemptoris stands, a holiday home of the Hungarian Bishops’ Conference, built in the 1960s by the Sisters of the Divine Redeemer.
The building, built at the top of the serpentine road and now renovated, still houses three Hungarian nuns, including the elderly Sister Kinga, who contributed with her own hands to the construction of the Villa itself, Sister Teodóra and Sister Fausztina. The three sisters in a sense ‘cover’ the Carpathian Basin: Theodóra comes from Székelyföld (Land of the Siculians – Transylvania), Fausztina is from the historical region of Jászság (Great Plain), while Sister Kinga – similarly to her aunt, without whom we could not walk the corridors of the Villa today – comes from the western Transdanubian. If we add to this the fact that among the Sisters of the Divine Redeemer there are also some from Felvidék (present-day Slovakia) and Kárpátalja (Transcarpathian Oblast – present-day Ukraine), we may get the impression that the entire Hungarian community is represented at the Villa in the broadest and most geographic sense of the word: Rome has become the common home of all.
The renovated building is equipped with modern, barrier-free rooms. Next to the elegantly designed reception, there is a chapel with modern lines, in which the space of the altar has clear references to classic church interiors with a spiritual atmosphere that invites to meditation.
Most of the rooms within the Villa, a total of 32 rooms, are located on the first and second floors. These are single and double rooms, all with private bathrooms and air conditioning. On the top floor of the building there are two-room flats suitable for families of four. The dining room has been enlarged and located in the basement and can accommodate a maximum of 50 people at the same time. A lift is provided for guests to move between the upper floors and the dining room. The capacity of the Villa, thanks to the redistribution of space (including water blocks and rooms), has increased to 50 persons.
The holiday home VILLA MATAER REDEMPTORIS is located in the western part of Rome, at the terminus of metro line A, Battistini stop. From the Villa it is easy to reach both the Vatican and the city centre, in addition to the metro, by bus no. 46 and no. 916, whose terminus is in Piazza Venezia.
