The church of Santa Maria della Rosa was built around 1300 in Via della Rosa, in the historical centre of Lucca. Originally, the building was an oratory dedicated to the devotion of the image of the Madonna between Saints Peter and Paul, also known as the Madonna of the Rose for the flowers she holds in her hand.
Due to its small size, it is called the ‘little church of the Rose’ by the people of Lucca.
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The church has undergone several alterations and extensions, one of which gave one of the sides its distinctive Gothic appearance.
The interior has three naves marked by round arches and covered by cross vaults. Above the high altar there is the precious 14th-century fresco of the Madonna of the Rose, while the other furnishings date back to the 15th century, when the façade was also completed. The inner wall on the western side is the only section of the ancient Roman wall of Lucca still in good condition.
In this church, St Giovanni Leonardi founded the religious order of the Clerics Regular of the Mother of God on Septemper 1, 1574.
St Gemma Galgani, after whom the city's most important sanctuary is named, assiduously attended the church, where every year on April 11 the anniversary of her death, which occurred on Holy Saturday in 1903, is celebrated. Next to the main entrance there is the original pew where the Saint used to gather in prayer.