​Originally built on the site where St. Peter was martyred and buried.

The early Christian church built by Constantine lasted many years. Between 1506 and 1626 it was entirely reconstructed by the masters of the Italian Renaissance: Michelangelo with its dome and Pietà, Maderno’s façade, Giotto’s mosaic, Bernini’s canopy and square.

​The TREASURE ROOMS house a collection of relics, vestments and precious object. Below the church are remains of the ancient basilica, the tomb of St.Peter and those of the popes.

​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 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.

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 main church of the Jesuits was begun by Vignola in 1568, while the façade and cupola are by Giacomo Della Porta. 

The church has an incredible baroque ceiling by Baciccia.
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Magnificent is the chapel in lapis lazuli of St. Ignatius, founder of the Jesuit order, who is buried under the altar. 

The Church date back to the 15th century, the interior was remodeled during the 18th century.

Noteworthy are the high altar by Bernini, the fresco of Isaiah by Raphael , the Madonna dei Pellegrini by Caravaggio, and the sculpture by Sansovino of the Madonna del Parto.

Already existing during the 12th century.

The reconstruction begun by Guerra in 1612 was continued by Borromini who is responsible for the dome, the bell tower and the apse.

The two angels on either side of the apse are by Bernini.

Begun by Della Porta in 1591, and continued by Maderno in 1608, who also designed the dome, which is the second highest and largest in diameter after  St. Peter’s.

The church contains frescoes by Domenichino and is known as the scene of one of the acts from the opera La Tosca  

Built in 1516 with design by Raphael and dedicated to the guild of goldsmiths.

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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.

Built between 1626 and 1650, it is the second Church of the Jesuit order.

It containsone of the most incredible Baroque frescoed ceiling by Andrea Pozzo and a false cupola  painted by the same artist.  

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.

Designed by Michelangelo who converted the great hall and the Tepidarium of the ancient Baths of Diocletian into the church.

Its unadorned façade was part of an exedra of the baths, the  calidarium, hot room, and follows in shape the curved line of the ancient Roman hall.

​The inner space gives an idea of the huge scale of imperial buildings. The altar paintings are the ones once were in St Peter basilica. They were moved here to be preserved from humidity damages.

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.   

​Originally built in 1480 and restored in 1656 by Pietro da Cortona who added a semicircular portico.

In 1514 Raphael painted the frescoes of the Sybils in the first chapel on the right.

Noteworthy also are the adjoining cloister by Bramante, the choir and high altar by Carlo Maderno, and the second chapel on the right by Sangallo the Younger.

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. 

​Begun in 1575 it was founded by saint Filippo Neri, one of the great figures of the Catholic reform.

Noteworthy are the façade by Rughesi, the ceiling frescoes by Pietro da Cortona; three paintings by Peter Paul Rubens on the high altar and on either side of it.

On the left of the church is the Oratory of the Filippini (the saint founded the Congregation of Oratorians), a true architectural masterpiece of the baroque style by Borromini.

The Church was built in the 5th century on the site where it is believed St. Paul was martyred. It was rebuilt by Giacomo della Porta in 1599. Within are the legendary three fountains, said to have sprung forth where the head of the Saint bounced after his decapitation. Noteworthy is the Roman mosaics in the pavement , brought from Ostia Antica, and representing the four seasons. The column to which the Saint is said to have been bound  is between the first and second altars.

The church is on the ground of the Abbazia delle Tre Fontane, a Trappist abbey whose monks produce a noted eucalyptus liqueur and other products such as chocolates, honey and marmalade. The abbey store is open from 9:30am to 1:00pm and from 4:00 to 7:00pm.

​Also on the grounds of the monastery are two other churches consecrating the martyrdom: Santi Vincenzo e Anastasio, built in the 7th century and rebuilt in the 13th;  Santa Maria Scala Coeli, built by Della Porta in 1583.

The previous  church, built prior to the 9th century on the site where it was erroneously believed the Apostle Peter was crucified, was rebuilt at the end of the 15th century by order of Ferdinand IV of Spain and probably designed by Baccio Pontelli. Noteworthy are frescoes by Sebastiano del Piombo in the Borgherini Chapel; and the Raimondi Chapel by Bernini. Beatrice Cenci – who inspired works by Stendhal, Dumas and Shelley – is buried at the foot of the altar. In the courtyard is the famous Tempietto del Bramante.

Built about 442 as a shrine to preserve the chains believed to be those  which had bound the Apostle Peter during his captivity in Jerusalem. To these later were added the chains which are believed to have bound the same Apostle in Rome. Restored for the first time by Hadrian I during the 8th century, the church was subsequently altered several times, especially during the 15th and 16th centuries.

​One of Michelagelo’s masterpieces  -  Moses – is in the right transept.