Rome Churches

Rome has the most spectacular churches in this Eternal City. Some of the most imposing and majestic artworks are just below.

The Basilica di San Pietro is located in Vatican City and it is one of the largest and most important Catholic churches in the world. It was designed by Bernini.

Inside of this church there’s lots of marble, bronze and gold artwork including Michelangelo’s Pieta. There are about ten thousand square metres of mosaics and the papal canopy and the monument to Urbano VIII both by Bernini, the monument to Cristina of Sweden by Carlo Fontana, the monument to the countess Matilda by Canossa, only to quote some of the most important pieces. Its facade is 45 meters high and its enormous dome is 136 meters. In addition there are numerous and priceless art pieces kept in the 45 altars and 11 chapels.

It has a surface of 22000 square metres and twenty thousand persons can pray in it. The indigenous St. Peter’s Basilica was constructed by will of Emperor Constantine around 320 AD. Ancient tradition has it that St. Peter's Basilica was built at the place where Peter, the apostle who is considered the first pope, was crucified and buried; his tomb is under the main altar. Other popes are also buried in and below the basilica. The brick dome 138 feet in diameter rises 452 feet above the street, and 390 feet above the floor, with four iron chains for a compression ring. The dome is 452 ft high (above the pavement) and is buttressed by the apses and supported internally by four massive piers more than 18 meters (60 feet) thick.

The entrance is free to visit Saint Peter’s but you must to pay to see the adjoining Sistine Chapel with its famous frescoes by Michelangelo and Botticelli, and the Vatican Museums.

St Peter’s Basilica – The Pieta in Rome, Vatican

Located on the Apostolic Palace, the official Pope residence in the Vatican City, the chapel fame rests on its architecture evokes Solomon’s Temple of the Old Testament, its decoration frescoed throughout by the greatest Renaissance artists like Michelangelo Buonarroti who has become to the Sistine Chapel in one of the most famous art galleries in the western world.

The chapel owes its name to Sixtus IV, the Pope who commissioned the building of the chapel at the end of the 14th century. It was decorated by Botticelli and il Ghirlandaio. After that around 16th century Michelangelo paint all the frescoes on the chapels vaulted ceiling: about 1000 square meters. He painted frescoes representing stories from the Bible; the famous Sistine ceiling depicts scenes from Genesis in dramatic and moving detail such as the amazing Universal Judgment and the Creation of Mankind. In addition to these famous artworks, the side walls are covered with frescoes of Moses and Christ and portraits of popes who had died as martyrs.

But the Sistine Chapel is more that the sum of its artistic wonders, there is no question that is a symbolic statement of papal authority and the place where papal elections in conclave are held today.

Sistine Chapel, Rome

San Giovanni is the Rome’s cathedral and the most important church after St. Peter’s. The first among the four major basilicas of Rome was built in 314 when Emperor Constantine gave the land to the Pope. Currently the building complex is made up of the Church, the Baptistery, Palazzo Lateranense, the Scala Santa and the Hospital of San Giovanni.

St. John Lateran is also the cathedral of Rome bishop, the Pope and is this known as the Cathedral of Rome and of the world. It contains important relics, a lovely 13th century cloister and an ancient baptistery. Large statues of Christ and saints such as John the Baptist, John the Evangelist among other top the facade.

The Altar of the Holy Sacrament contains a cedar table which was used by Christ at the Last Supper. The marble and bronze columns are said to have been taken from the Temple of Jupiter on the Capitoline Hill. The bronze columns in that temple had been recast from the bronze prows of Cleopatra's ships, taken in battle by Emperor Augustus.

The cloisters on Benedictine monastery were designed by Vassellectus and the Cosmati brothers, with an intermediate style between Romanesque and Gothic. They are surrounded by graceful double columns of inlaid marble and contain many early Christian fragments from the basilica. A porphyry slab in the cloister is believed to be the surface on which Roman soldiers cast lots for Christ's robes.

Lateran Altar of the Blessed Sacrament and ceiling detail in St. John Lateran

The Basilica of Saint Mary Major, one of the five great ancient basilicas in Rome, was founded in the 4th century. This church stands on the Esquilino hill and its bell tower is the highest in Rome. There is a story that this was the site where fragments of wood from Jesus’ crib were kept. For this reason the church was called Santa Maria ad Praesepe for a certain period of time. Also its 18th century exterior conceals one of the best preserved Byzantine interiors in the city.

Considered on of the most beautiful church in Rome, Santa Maria Maggiore still retains its ancient layout, but most of the exterior dates from the 18th century. The only visible exterior part of the Early Christian basilica is a short length of the clerestory wall, seen from Via dell'Esquilino. The interior of the basilica preserves its majestic Early Christian form, which was standard in Rome in the 5th century: a tall, wide nave with side aisles and a round apse at the end. The mosaics on either side of the nave depict scenes from the Old Testament.

St. Maria Maggiore, Rome

The Pantheon is the best preserved ancient building in Rome and was built in 118 as a Roman Temple was dedicated to pan theos, "all the gods”, later it was converted into the church of Virgin Mary and all the martyrs. In the 17th century early Christians turned the Pantheon into a church. Inside are many tombs, some holding the bodies of Italian monarchs.

The Pantheon’s huge dome is a perfect hemisphere of cast concrete, resting on a solid ring wall. The bronze doors leading into the building weigh 20 tons each. Its walls are 7.5m thick. The main altar of the church is opposite the entrance, and the original 7th-century icon of the Madonna and Child can be seen above it. The apse is decorated with a golden mosaic featuring crosses. In the plaza outside the Pantheon is a lovely fountain topped by an ancient Egyptian obelisk. The obelisk and its base were erected by Pope Clement XI. The Pantheon is a burial place of several important Italians including the artist Raphael, and it still remains an active church. It is a major tourist destination and a popular place for weddings.

The Pantheon, Rome

The Basilica di San Clemente is an early Christian basilica in Rome dedicated to Pope St. Clement. Its beautiful interior is especially notable for its three historical layers.

The main upper church is one of the most richly decorated churches in Rome. The vast majority of its architecture and art dates from its construction in the early 12th century. The entrance is on the left aisle.

The most striking sight is the 12th-century apse mosaic, in a golden-bronze color and featuring a large cross in the center. In the center of the apse is a throne, whose back is part of a martyr's tomb.

The high altar contains the relics of St. Clement of Rome and St. Ignatius of Antioch. Faded frescoes decorate many of the walls, and date from the 6th to 11th centuries. They depict New Testament scenes and lives of several saints.

Basilica of Saint Clement, Rome

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