Rome is famous for its churches. These are only a few of many you need to visit.
Rome is the center of Catholicism so having a lot of churches is to be expected. They are living museums of art and culture. From Byzantine to Baroque, you will find the best art in the churches of Rome.
Rome’s most famous church is Saint Peter’s Basilica in Vatican City. Millions flock every year to gaze in wonder and hopefully see the pope while they are at it. Saint Peter’s is not the only church you must visit in Rome. There are countless others with immense beauty to astound you. Each is different in their own way. Some were founded by monks. Some serve certain immigrant communities. Others are just plain unique, built inside of Ancient Roman ruins (some of which are covered in my post on Rome’s ancient past).
There are so many amazing churches in Rome, I could never cover them all. Here is a good sample of the amazing churches you can find in the Eternal City.
I’m going to start with the first church I visit the first time I went to Rome, Santa Maria Maggiore. It is the largest church in Rome (St. Peter’s doesn’t count since it isn’t technically in Rome). The basilica was founded in 432 CE, one of the oldest churches in Rome. However, many improvements have been made since.
The interior of Santa Maria Maggiore is really hard to photograph these days. It’s dark and you have to pay to turn the lights on. So, I’m going to focus on a few of my favorite areas of the church. This is the Oratory of the Nativity with the Altar of Sistine Chapel. A lot of words to describe a beautiful space.
One of my favorite things in Santa Maria Maggiore is this chapel ceiling. Just wow!
Nearby Santa Maria Maggiore is Santa Prassede. This church was built around 780 and in the 9th century, its famous Byzantine mosaics appeared, like this one behind the altar.
Santa Pressede’s San Zeno chapel is covered with mosaics from this period. Even the ceiling is stunning.
Another one of Rome’s early churches is Santo Stefano Rotondo, one of my favorites. For starters, its round, a very odd shape for a church. Built between 468 and 483, Santo Stefano was one of Rome’s first circular churches, modeled after the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem.
The real reason it’s one of my favorites is because there are frescoes of saints being martyred around the church and in the most gruesome ways possible. Like these guys that are either being chopped up into prices or crushed by large stone slabs.
Rome is full of really old churches, but the outward and inward appearances have changed a lot over time. San Vitale is unusual for the fact it hasn’t been changed much. It still retains much of its original appearance from when it was built in 400 CE, at least on the outside. It now resides a few meters below the modern street level.
Santa Sabina is the mother church of the Dominicans. It is the oldest church in Rome that still retains its original plan and architectural style. Santa Sabina really shows what the interiors of early Christian basilicas in Rome would have looked like in the 5th century.
Santa Sabina still has some of its original doors, or at least pieces of them.
Another ancient church is Saint Paul Outside of the Walls. Kind of a weird name for a church but it refers to the ancient walls of Rome, which it is outside of. Early Christians (or any Roman for that matter) weren’t allowed to be buried within the city walls of Rome. Many of the early churches were also located outside of the city walls. St. Paul was one of them. It was actually founded, according to legend, over the tomb of the Saint Paul the Apostle, by Constantine the Great in 324.
I love this awesome colonnade. Much of the ancient basilica survived in appearance until 1823, when a huge fire gutted the basilica. What we see today came about in the 19th century rebuilding of the church in the Neo-classical style. It may not be original or that old, but I love what they did with the place.
Saint Paul’s is the second largest basilica in Rome and copied some its design from the largest, Santa Maria Maggiore. In all actuality, these two churches are very similar on the inside, down to the gilded ceiling and mosaics in the apse. Saint Paul’s apse photographs well since it is bright and airy, unlike Santa Maria Maggiore. One of the few remaining parts of the ancient basilica can be seen on the archway in the front of the church. The mosaics date from the 5th century.
Saint Paul’s mosaic apse is pretty awesome as well.
Moving forward in time, one of the most prominent churches in Rome is Santa Maria in Aracoeli, located on the Capitoline Hill near the Ancient Forum of Rome. I think it’s most famous for its long staircase. Santa Maria in Aracoeli dates from the 12th century, with many, many improvements since then. However, they seem to have neglected the outside of the church when decorating this medieval church
While Santa Maria in Aracoeli may be plain on the outside, it is very decorated on the inside. I love all the chandeliers.
Another thing I love in this church is this frescoed chapel, the Bufalini Chapel. This one is called the Glory of Saint Bernardino by Pinturicchio, painted in 1486.
Saint John Lateran (San Giovanni in Laterano) is the cathedral of Rome. (St. Peter’s is not a cathedral.) If this is the seat of the Bishop of Rome, why is so far away from the Vatican? It is clear across the city. Well, it starts with Constantine the Great. He gave the palace that was already here to the Bishop of Rome in the early 300s CE, becoming his residence. Popes lived in the Lateran Palace until 1309, when they vacated the city for Southern France. When the pope returned to Rome, he eventually moved into the Vatican Palace where they reside today.
Much of cathedral design today is a combination of various styles. The interior nave was rebuilt in the outlandish Baroque design of the 1600s. The statues of apostles that now rest in the niches were a later early 1700s addition.
The high altar (barely noticeable on the bottom) and the 14th century Gothic ciborium (basically a fancy canopy over the altar). I’m not happy about the trend of putting really bright spotlights in ceilings nowadays. Hard to take decent photos.
And finally, the huge apse of St. John Lateran. The fancy seat in the middle is for the pope.
Jesuit churches tend to be decorated to the extreme, no matter where you find them in Italy. I just happen to like this outlandish style of decoration. The Church of the Gesù in Rome is the mother church of the Society of Jesus (Jesuits), so many churches are based off this design.
My favorite part of this church is its ceiling. The ceiling fresco, Triumph of the Name of Jesus, was done by Giovanni Battista Gaulli.
The fresco is famous for its trompe-l’oeil effect, which causes you to think that a 2D image is 3D instead. It looks like that cloud is floating but in reality, it is not.
Another great church is San Luigi dei Francesi, the national church in Rome of France, built in the 16th century. I love all the gold details.
The ceiling is also fantastic.
Chiesa Nuova (New Church, it’s a nickname) is also one of my favorites. It is just so gloomy and Baroque. It makes me happy.
Last but not least, one of my favorite chapels in Rome. I have only been to Santa Maria del Popolo once. It’s located near the northern walls of Rome, kind of out of the way. The main church is pretty plain, not a ton of decoration, but its chapels are wonderful. This is the Chigi Chapel, which was embellished by the famed Italian architect Bernini.
The Chapel is famous for its pyramidal monuments. (Featured in Dan Brown’s Angels and Demons.) Fun Fact: Protestant reformer Martin Luther stayed at the monastery here at Santa Maria del Popolo, which is located not that far from Vatican City.
If you love architecture and art and want to travel on a budget, churches are a great place to go. They are free of charge here in Rome and are great places to spend some time gazing at amazing ceilings. (I’m obsessed with ceilings.)
Explore Rome’s amazing museums in the next post in my Wandering Rome series.
I’ve seen many interesting frescoes in my time but never as questionable as the ones in Santo Stefano.