​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.