GENERAL HOUSE

History of the General House | Presentation | Virtual guide

You are in the General House, the centre of communion for all Marist communities in the world, and residence of the Superior General and his Council. The General House was in the beginning at the Hermitage (1825), then moved to Saint Genis Laval (1858). Both of these are in France, but when the brothers were expelled from that country, it was established at Grugliasco (1903), in the north of Italy. It was relocated to Saint Genis at the beginning of the Second World War. The property on which the present General House stands in Rome (55.000 m2), is situated in the area designated for the “Exposición Universal Romana” (EUR). The building, constructed on the foundations of what was to be the Fascist “Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry,” was inaugurated in 1961.

In this residential zone of Rome there is the “Palazzo dello Sport” designed by Pier Luigi Nervi (the architect who designed the “Aula Pablo VI” in the Vatican) and a beautiful lake. The central building of the General House is the residence of the Superior General and his Council, and a community of brothers who look after the various services of the General Administration.

The building housing the former International College was remodeled in 2000 to make better use of the facilities, and thus was born the “Villa EUR – Parco dei Pini”. In 2016 the building was rented to a company, which autonomously manages the hotel Parco dei Pini, Villa EUR.