Churches, Churches and More Churches!

 

The Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore (St. Mary Major) is one of four major Papal basilicas in Rome.
It was built under Pope Sixtus III (432 - 440 A.D.).
It is a huge church festooned with wonderful fifth century mosaics.

Saint Mary of the Angels and the Martyrs is a Dominican church designed by Michelangelo and built in the late 16th century over the ruins of the third century A.D. Baths of Diocletian.
This is the first church visited by the Pope on Ash Wednesday.

Santa Maria della Victoria (Our Lady of Victory) is a baroque 17th century church.

The Basilica of Saint Praxedes is an eighth century church built over a fifth century structure.
The most impressive features are the intricate mosaics.

In the Church of St. Louis of the French -- a 16th century church that is the national church in Rome of France -- the highlights are three Caravaggio paintings.  Two are here,
The Calling of St. Matthew and The Inspiration of St. Matthew.

Finally, Sant Ignazio di Loyola is a 17th century baroque church that has a beautiful trompe l'oiel ceiling fresco painted by Andrea Pozzo, a Jesuit lay brother.