The churches of Rome

Rome has more than 900 churches. Here are the best.

St. Peter's Bascilia in Rome

St. Peter's Basilica ★★★
The capital of Christendom and most magnificent basilica on Earth is a late-Renaissance/early-baroque masterpiece of architecture and decoration, an artistic collaborations across the centuries between the likes of Michelangelo and Bernini, and something of a personal pulpit for the man who lives next door: the Pope... » more
 
Papal audience

An audience with the Pope ★★
Unlike the Middle Ages, when you had to have excellent connections to see the Bishop of Rome (that's the Pope's real title), these days papal audiences are pretty easy to come by—so long as you're willing to get tickets and advance, and to share the moment with several thousand other audience members... » more
 

Churches near the Forum and Colosseum

San Clemente

San Clemente ★★
This early medieval church's mosaics, marbles, and Masolino frescoes would be worth a visit in of themselves. But the real show here is that you can head downstairs to see Rome's layer effect at work, exploring church layered upon church layered upon pagan temple to Mithras and ancient Roman streets and houses... » more
 
Bocca della Verita, in Santa Maria in Cosmedin church, Rome

Santa Maria in Cosmedin ★
It's not the glittering mosaics, 12th-century bell tower, or cosmatesque pavement inside that draw the crowds to this medieval church; it's the ancient Roman sewer-covering inside the portico, a grotesque face with a gaping mouth called the "Mouth of Truth" ★ into which Gregory Peck-wannabes trust their hands and brazenly tell lies while Audrey Hepburn types shriek with horror as the men pretend that the mouth chomps off their hands for fibbing. Rent Roman Holiday and you'll see what I mean... » more
 
Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore

Santa Maria Maggiore ★
One of Rome's four great ancient basilicas was built in the 5th century and has some fantastic, glittering mosaics... » more
 
Michelangelo's Moses in Rome's San Pietro in Vincoli

San Pietro in Vincoli
The rusty chains under the altar are supposedly those that imprisoned St. Peter, but what everyone really comes here to see is Michelangelo's Moses... » more
 
Santa Maria in Aracoeli

Santa Maria in Aracoeli
The medieval Italian version of the Stairmaster: clambering up every last steep one of this church's 124 steps to see the miraculous baby Jesus statue inside... » more
 
Santa Sabina in Rome

Santa Sabina
This gorgeous, rarely visited church on the Aventine Hill retains some of the earliest depictions of Christianity's major artistic themes in the world on its carved 5th-century doors... » more
 

Churches in the Historic Center (near Piazza Navona, the Spanish Steps, and Piazza del Popolo)

The Pantheon

The Pantheon ★★★
- The only ancient Roman temple to survive the millennia intact (partly becasue it was transformed into a church) is also one of the most amazing architectural spaces in Rome, an expansive cylinder swaddled in precious marbles, topped by a vast concrete hemisphere, and pierced by a wide shaft of sunlight from the oculus at the center... » more
 
the Caravaggio chapel in Satan Maria del Popolo

Santa Maria del Popolo ★★
This little gem of a church at the very northern edge of the city center is one of my favorite in all of Rome, and it acts as a primer of Italy's Renaissance and early baroque movements, with works by Caravaggio, Bernini, Raphael, Pinturicchio, Sansovino, Bramante, Guillaume de Marcillat, Annibale Carracci, and more... » more
 
Michelangelo's Risen Christ at Santa Maria Sopra Minerva

Santa Maria Sopra Minerva ★
Rome's only Gothic church, fronted by a whimsical Bernini statue of a baby elephant carrying a tiny Egyptian obelisk. Inside are a chapel frescoed by Filippo Lippi and Michelangelo's muscular Risen Christ... » more
 
San Luigi dei Francesi

San Luigi dei Francesi
A trio of Caravaggio paintings line the back left chapel of France's national church in Rome... » more
 
Caravaggio in the church of Sant'Agostino

Sant'Agostino
Another Caravaggio, Adoration of the Shepherds (though frankly, they look a bit more like janitors), decorates the church's left aisle. Also in this church are a fresco by Raphael and some carving by Sansovino... » more
 
Sant'Ivo alla Sapienza

Sant'Ivo alla Sapienza
Borromini's masterpiece of a baroque church—a complex interplay of concave and convex lines topped by a swirly elliptical lantern that looks for all the world like soft-serve ice cream—is hidden away in the courtyard of a nondescript university building, making your "discovery" of it that much more surprising and special... » more
 
Andrea Pozzo's dome in the church of Sant'Ignazio

San Ignazio di Loyola
A stage-set
The facade of Santa Maria della Pace

Santa Maria della Pace

This tiny church off Piazza Navona was frescoed by Raphael and Peruzzi, and designed in part by Renaissance greats Bramante (the cloisters) and Pietro Da Cortona (the curving facade)... » more
 
of a piazza out front leads to a church interior that is not all it seems to be—watch the dome carefully as you walk up the aisle towards it... » more
 
Sant'Andrea della Valle

Sant'Andrea della Valle
Opera buffs will remember this as the setting for the first act in Tosca, though its baroque architecture and Domenichino paintings are also a draw... » more
 
The Capuchin Crypt in Rome's Santa Maria Immacolata Concezione

Santa Maria Immacolata Concezione
No one comes here for the church itself, they come of the creepy Capuchin Crypt underneath, where the walls of four chapels are mosaicked with the bones of dead monks... » more
 

Churches in Trastevere & Farther Afield

Santa Maria in Trastevere in Rome

Santa Maria in Trastevere ★★

Rome's first church named for the Virgin, its frescoed façade floodlit at night, the apse covered with mosaics by Pietro Cavallini, its cosmatesque floor inlaid with swirling patterns of marble chips... » more
 
Cavallini frescoes in Santa Cecilia in Trastevere

Santa Cecilia in Trastevere★
You'd never know from the bland baroque interior that, by slipping a modest bribe to the nuns, you can get inside the cloistered section to see one of Rome's last remaining medieval masterpieces of fresco by Pietro Cavallini... » more
 
Basilica di San Giovanni

San Giovanni in Laterano
Rome's cathedral—no, it isn't St. Peter's—is one of the great basilican churches of Rome, with a Giotto fresco and some lovely quiet cloisters... » more
 
Scala Santa in Rome

Scala Santa
Across the street from Rome's cathedral (San Giovanni in Laterano), is an unassuming, small, chapel-like structure housing the Scala Santa, the "Holy Staircase"of 28 steps of Tyrian marble that legend holds were the actual staircase of Pilate's house, which Jesus descended after being condemned, brought back to Rome by St. Helena... » more
 
St. Paul's Outside the Walls in Rome

San Paolo Fuori le Mura
One of the four great basilicas in Rome, badly damaged by fire but beautifully restored, and well worth the trek out here for its lovely cloisters... » more
 
Bernini's Ecstasy of Beata Ludovica in san Francesco A Ripa in Trastevere

San Francesco a Ripa
Bernini was the master of racy, nearly erotic religious themes... » more
 

Churches Near Termini train station

Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore

Santa Maria Maggiore ★
One of Rome's four great ancient basilicas was built in the 5th century and sports fantastic, glittering mosaics... » more
 
Santa maria degli Angeli

Santa Maria degli Angeli
Michelangelo was commissioned to take a section of the ancient Baths of Diocletian and adapt it to become a church. It's a shame a later architect came along and moved the entrance over to one of the transept arms and spoiled the effect... » more
 
Bernini's St. Teresa in Ecstasy in Santa Maria della Vittoria

Santa Maria della Vittoria
The last chapel on the left is a theater stage with the commissioners and the sculptor, Bernini, looking from box seats down on the main scene below, where a smirking angel is about to pierce St. Theresa in Ecstasy (and what a very erotic ecstasy it is) with a glowing spear of Heavenly light... » more
 

Tips & links

Roman church tours

Take a guided tour of Christian Rome with one of our partners:

Tours of churches and Christian sites  


Tours of the catacombs Papal audiences Tours of Jewish Rome

Attending mass

Attend church services in Rome: In the "Tips & Links" section of every church described on this site, I'll provide the regular hours of mass. » more

See the Pope

There is actually more than one way to see the Pope—though the weekly Wednesday morning Papal Audience and the Sudnay noon blessing are the two most regularly scheduled opportunities. » more

How long does Rome take?

Planning your day: Rome wasn't built in a day, and you'd be hard-pressed to see it in that brief a time as well. Still, you can cram a lot into just a day or three.

To help you get the most out of your limited time in the Eternal City, here are some perfect itineraries, whether you have one, two, three, or four days to spend in Rome.

» Rome itineraries

Rome tours

Walks & Day tours

Longer tours

Related pages

Share this page

Intrepid Travel 25% off

Search ReidsItaly.com

Rome
Rome
Rome tours

Walks & day tours

Longer tours

Rome hotels

Rome activities
Tours
For more info:
www.turismoroma.it

Also useful:
allthesaintsyoushouldknow.com (includes interactive map of saintly relics in Rome)
findingsaintsrome.blogspot.com

Tours of churches and Christian sites
Tours of the catacombs Papal audiences Tours of Jewish Rome


Train tix
Rome map
Map of Rome
Trip plans

Shortcuts to popular planning sections:

Airfares, Cars, Trains, Tours, Packages, Cruises, Lodging, Itineraries, Info, Packing, Prep, Comm

Follow ReidsItaly
Follow ReidsItaly on Twitter  Join the ReidsItaly fan page  Follow Reids Italy Adventures blog