​Built during the time of Constantine, it has often been restored and transformed and was completely rebuilt by Borromini in 1650.

The basilica is the cathedral of Rome and the mother church of the catholic world. The central bronze gate in the portico is from the ancient Curia of the Roman Forum.

There’s  a fresco attributed to Giotto and, across the square is the SCALA SANTA (The Holy staircase) believed to be from Pilate’s House and which was trod on by Christ in Jerusalem. The original marble steps are covered with wood and are climbed by Roman catholics on their knees.

The original basilica was erected by Costantine over the apostle’s tomb  and was embellished during succeeding centuries.

However, it burned down in 1823. Little remains of the original basilica.

​The present one is the second largest in rome after St.Peter’s . Noteworthy   are the Chapel of the Holy Sacrament  by Carlo Maderno, the apse mosaics and the celebrated altar canopy  by Arnolfo di Cambio, the cloister and the paschal candlestick, the original 11th century door, from Constantinople

The largest Roman church dedicated to the Virgin Mary dates from the time of Sixtus III (432-40).
Major restorations and changes are from the middle of the 16th century although from the 13th to the 14th centuries the portico was added the campanile (the highest of the roman campaniles) was built and the tribuna enlarged.
Not to be missed are the precious 5th century mosaics (36 panels above the architrave and those in the triumphal arch), the relic of the holy crib, the Sforza Chapel by Michelangelo but built by Giacomo della Porta.
It is said that the gold used for the ceiling was the first brought back from America by Columbus.

One of the most interesting churches in Rome, which has mystified archaeologist for centuries.

It seems that the original sanctuary on the site was a mortuary chapel erected in the 4th century by Emperor  Constantine over the tomb of St. Lawrence.

In the 6th century pope Pelagius II built a new basilica that was modified in the 13th century by pope Honorius III The triumphal arch, with 6th century mosaics,on its inner face, divides the two architectural periods.
Noteworthy are the fluted Corinthian columns, the 12th century campanile and the two 13th century ambos, the 12th century cloister, one of the most beautiful in Rome.
​The basilica was bombed during World War II. 

It is traditionally believed that this basilica was created by Emperor Constantine's mother around 320 AD to hold the relics of the Holy Cross brought back from the Holy Land by St. Helena, Constantine’s mother.

The church was converted from a wing of the nearby imperial palace. Restored in 1144, when the Romanesque bell  tower was added, and rebuilt in in 1743.

It contains two beautiful water stoops, a tomb by Iacopo Sansovino, a fresco by Antoniazzo Romano, a magnificent mosaic in the Chapel of St. Helena. In the Chapel of the Relics there are fragments from the Cross, a nail and two thorns from the Crown.

​Originally dedicated to the Apostles Peter and Paul, the basilica was buit in the early 4th century over the cemetery  where the remains of the apostles had temporarily laid. It is one of the basilicas built by Emperor Constantine.

It later became the shrine for Saint Sebastian, a roman soldier martyred under Emperor Diocletian, who was buried in the church catacombs (see Saint Sebastian catacombs).

​The small church of Domine Quo Vadis (Lord, where’re you going?) marks the spot where, according to tradition, Christ appeared to St.Peter  fleeing from Rome to escape Nero’s persecution.

​Already existing in the 9th century , the church was rebuilt in the 17th century 

​Built in 342 by Constantia, daughter of Constantine the Great , over the catacombs which contained the relics of the Saint.
Rebuilt and enlarged by Honorius I (625-38), the basilica was thereafter restored several times. Nonetheless , it is one of the best examples of an antique Christian basilica.

The 7th century mosaics in the apse is one of the finest example of Byzantine art in Rome. Each year on January 21 two lambs are blessed in the churc, then blessed again by the Pope before being given to the nuns of Santa Cecilia in Trastevere who make archbishops’ palliums from the wool. In the left nave is the entrance to the catacombs (see Santa Agnese catacombs).

The basilica was erected in the 6th century to celebrate the defeat of the Goths.

Damaged several times by floods and earthquakes, was restored at the end of the 8th century and renovated  completely at the end of the 9th .

At the beginning of the 18th century there was a wide-scale reconstruction and in 1827 the architect Valadier created the façade existing today. In the left nave is an early sculpture by Antonio Canova.

​Built before the 4th century over the house of St. Cecilia. Rebuilt during the 9th, 12th, 16th, 18th, 19th and 20th centuries.
The façade has ancient columns and a 12th century bell tower.

The crypt leads to the ancient Roman construction below. In the adjacent convent is the Last Judgment, a famous fresco by Pietro Cavallini dating back to 1293. The cloister dates from the 12th century.

Built prior to 365 A.D. this church is one of the most interesting in Rome.

Originally constructed over Roman buildings, it now consists of two churches, a lower and a upper.

The latter was built over the earlier construction –where pagan and Christian structures overlap – during the 12th century after a Norman invasion had destroyed the original one.
Medieval frescoes from the 8th to the 12th centuries and a well-preserved Mithraeum  lies below the actual church decorated with a 12th century mosaic of the Triumph of the Cross.

Consists of two structures: the library of Vespasian’s Forum of Peace and a 4th century  structure built by emperor Maxentius, joined together in 527.

The church was restored several times during the middle ages and again in 1632.

Important 6th century mosaics on the triumphal arch and in the apse.

Erected at the beginning of the 4th century as a mausoleum for Constantine’s  daughters Constantia and Helen, was converted first into a baptistery and then into a church in 1254.

Circular in design, it’s a magnificent example of an early Christian church.

The vaulting is adorned with exquisite 4th century mosaics. 

​The 13th century church was rebuilt by Matteo de Rossi between 1682 and 1689, he’s also responsible for the façade.

Contains the famous sculpture by Bernini, Beata Ludovica Albertoni located in in the last chapel on the left, and a 13th century portrait of St. Francis, inquire at the sacristy.

Early Christian church reconstructed in the 7th century; ionic portico and campanile added in the 12th century.
Contains medieval frescoes and sculptures.

​Its name derives from Velabrum, the point in the river where, according to legend, Faustulus found Romolus and Remus.

Built in 398 over the house of the two martyrs, the basilica was restored several times: after Alaric sacre Rome in 410, following the earthquake in 442 and after the Norman invasion of 1084.

The campanile, church portico and adjoining monastery are of the 12th century.

Further restorations took place in the 15th and 16th century, and in 1715 the ancient interior was transformed in baroque style.
The ancient porphyry urn on the high altar contains the relics of the two martyrs. The church lies over  ancient roman houses (see Roman Houses on Celio in underground Rome section).

Medieval church originally built in the late 5th century.

Although renovated several times in succeeding centuries, it has recently been restored to its original state.
​Noteworthy  are the antique  columns supporting its portico and lining its aisles; important 12th century frescoes in the central nave depicting scenes from the Old and New Testaments; and its 13th century Romanesque bell tower.

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MEDIEVAL
Built in the early 8th century on the site of two earlier structures which Gregory the Great in 575 had transformed from his ancestral home into a monastery and oratory dedicated to St. Andrew. It was from this monastery that Gregory sent his envoy, St. Augustine, to convert the English. The medieval church was completely renovated externally in 1629-33 by G.B. Soria and internally in 1725-34 by F. Ferrari. Outside the church on the left are the chapels of saints Andrew, Sylvia and Barbara with frescoes by Domenichino, Reni and Viviani. In the Chapel of St. Barbara, the one on the left, is the marble table believed to be the one where St. Gregory served daily meals to 12 paupers; a legend tells of the appearance one day of an angel who increased the number to 13.

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Erected in the 4th and 5th centuries, rebuilt in the 12th and then alterwed by Cosimo Fanzago about 1650.

Contains alleged gridiron of St. Lawrence’s martyrdom behind the main altar.

The campanile and portico date back to the 12th century.

Under the church there is a subterranean site.

Built in the 4th century, restored in the 8th and 9th  and again during the 15th and 18th centuries.

The mosaics of the apse and triumphal arch are of the 9th century.

​Its elegant façade is possibly by Alberti. The campanile dates back to the 12th century.

According to a legend, the church was built on the site where a sibyl predicted to Augustus the birth of Christ. Of an  undetermined age, but  probably erected before 574 A.D. when a church already existing on the site was considered ancient.

Rebuilt in the 13th century in Romanesque and Gothic  styles. During the Middle Ages the city fathers met here to discuss public affairs.

The interior contains columns taken from ancient classical buildings; a sculpture by Donatello; in the first chapel on the right are frescoes by Pinturicchio.

​The staircase of 122 steps was built in 1348.   

Erected in the 6th century on the site of the food distribution center of ancient Rome, which existed among a group of temples dedicated to Hercules.

Enlarged in the 8th century, remodeled in the 9th and 12th centuries and restored at the end of the 19th century to its 8th century design.
Santa Maria in Cosmedin, is one of the churches with the best preserved medieval atmosphere.

An 8th century mosaic is preserved in the Sacristy, the campanile, choir and paschal candlestick are of the 12th, the Episcopal throne and altar canopy from the 13th.

The 12th century portico house the famous Bocca della Verità – Mouth of Truth -, originally a drain covering in the shape of a great face with an open mouth, the mask of a river god. The mouth of truth, it was said, would close on the end of a liar, cutting the fingers.

​Erected probably in the 7th century, rebuilt and enlarged in the early 9th, then rebuilt again in the 16th  and restored in the early 19th centuries.

Noteworthy are the beautiful 9th century mosaics in the apse and the lacunal wooden ceiling from the 16th century.

​The renaissance façade is by Andrea Sansovino.

Originally built in 1227 by Gregory IX to replace a chapel erected by Paschal II in 1099 on the spot popularly believed to be the site of Nero’s tomb.

Subsequently rebuilt during the 13th century as the parish church of the growing populous and dedicated to the Madonna, thereby deriving its name.

Again rebuilt at the end of the 15th century by the pope Sixtus IV, with façade attributed to Andrea Bregno.

​It houses an extraordinary collection of art, including sculptures by Bernini in the Chigi chapel, designed by Raphael; two paintings by Caravaggio, the Conversion of St. Paul and the Crucifixion of St. Peter in the Cerasi Chapel; frescoes by Pinturicchio and the choir by Bramante.

Originally erected in the 8th century over the remains of a temple dedicated to Minerva, the church was rebuilt in gothic style in 1280.

Among its many treasures are Michelangelo’s Risen Christ at the side of the high altar, frescoes by Filippino Lippi in the Carafa Chapel, and the monument to the Venerabile Maria Raggi by Bernini.

Under the high altar is the sarcophagus containing the remains of St. Catherine of Siena. The tomb of Fra Beato Angelico is in the left chapel.