Location: Centro
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What to do and see in Centro, Lazio: The Best Churches & Cathedrals
Rome wasn't built in a day--and you'll need much more than a day to take in this timeless city. The city is a real-life collage of piazzas, open-air markets, and astonishing historic sites. Toss a coin into the Trevi Fountain, contemplate the Colosseum and the Pantheon, and sample a perfect espresso or gelato before spending an afternoon shopping at the Campo de’Fiori or Via Veneto. Enjoy some of the most memorable meals of your life here, too, from fresh pasta to succulent fried artichokes or a tender oxtail stew.
Restaurants in Rome
1. Basilica dei Santi Cosma e Damiano
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 172 reviews
Located on the fringe of the Forum, this small church incorporates the pagan Temple of Romulus and features a magnificent sixth-century mosaic representing the Second Coming.
Reviewed By lady_britts - Bexley, United Kingdom
We literally stumbled across this incredible church on our walk from our hotel to the Colosseum and I'm so grateful that we did as it is absolutely stunning. Dating back to the 4th century and becoming a church is 527AD & contains greatly restored early examples of Christian art, especially in its mosaics. With a pretty courtyard with a fountain and fish, this lovely & serene church and its grounds are worth visiting & absorbing the history and appreciating your surroundings. If only the walls could talk!
2. Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 16,079 reviews
One of seven pilgrimage basilicas in the world, this church was founded in 432 AD and is where the famous architect Bernini is buried.
Reviewed By 282LisaH - Melbourne, Australia
We were staying in Trastevere with an air B and B.we walked around the cobbled lanes and came across piazza Santa Maria and this beautiful church which I had read about it is amazing and inspires serene meditation ????♀️ . The frescoes and building are beautiful and it sits in the piazza . Absolutely stunning and to think it started building in the 2nd century
3. San Pietro in Vincoli
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 5,459 reviews
This 5th-century church features Michelangelo's sculpture of Moses that adorns the incomplete tomb of Pope Julius II.
Reviewed By srablair - Lytham St Anne's, United Kingdom
We had a bit of trouble finding this, but so glad we got here as it is a gem of a place. It is on the Oppian hill near the colisseum and looks quite plain from the outside but beautiful once you step through the door. Includes main attractions from art lovers is the mausoleum of Julius 2nd, with its wonderful Michelangelo enlightenment of Moses. Also the chains displayed as a relic reputed to be the chains that held st Peter in Jerusalem and Rome. Unlike some churches, you are welcome to sit down here for private prayer and quiet reflection. A wonderful peaceful place and quite poignant to sit and reflect on the significant history and symbolism of the chains.
4. Chiesa di Santa Maria del Popolo
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 1,337 reviews
This Renaissance church contains Baroque additions along with various 18th- and 19th-century monuments, which add to the beauty of this structure.
Reviewed By Margo7850p
The Basilica of Santa Maria del Popolo is a place not to be missed due to its location on the magnificent Piazza del Popolo and also due of the huge works of art of high value that are present there. The church comes from a small chapel from the 11th century, built at the expense of the Roman people, from which the name comes. Then it was completely rebuilt in the 15th century . In the mid-seventeenth century, Gianlorenzo Bernini gave it a distinct Baroque impression. The interior has the shape of a basilica with three naves, a transept and a semicircular apse, with four side chapels on each side and two important chapels on the left side of the main altar. Inside the church you can find a lot of works of art, primarily at the Cerasi Chapel the works of two fundamental painters of contemporary artistic history, Annibale Caracci with the painting of the altar of the "Assumption of the Virgin", and on the sides two wonderful paintings of Caravaggio, "Crucifixion of Saint Peter" and "Conversion of Saint Paul ". It is such a beautiful church. Definitely worth a visit.
5. Church of St. Louis of the French
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 5,395 reviews
Closed on Thursdays! The famous painter Caravaggio (1573-1610) was commissioned to paint for this church, where in one of its chapels is his realistic naturalism in three scenes of the life of St. Matthew.
6. Santa Cecilia in Trastevere
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 407 reviews
This Church was constructed between 817 and 824 AD, on the site of an earlier fifth-century building, and features a grand courtyard, garden, twelfth-century bell tower and a gothic tabernacle by Arnolfo di Cambio.
Reviewed By Fatherandson
Santa Cecilia in Trastevere is one of Rome's most beautiful churches. Perhaps the main attraction is Pietro Cavallini's Last Judgment fresco, often cited as the masterpiece of the artist who, with Giotto, was a prominent Late Gothic artist and a forerunner of the early Renaissance. To see the fresco, you must ring the doorbell to the left of the church's entrance. There you will pay two euros and then enter an elevator that takes you to the second floor, The fresco is located at the rear of the nun's choir. During our visit we were the only ones there. The church also has some subterranean archaeological remains, one euro entrance, which were not particularly worthwhile.
7. Basilica of San Clemente
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 4,344 reviews
Constructed between 1110 and 1130, this church of San Clemente is not one, but three churches built one above the other, with ruins dating from the earliest Christian times.
Reviewed By 82manuelal - Luxembourg City, Luxembourg
A fine medieval Basilica with some fine mosaics and very nice frescos from the fifteenth century; there is the tomb of Pope Clementin I and the church is dedicated to him; The basilic has thee very different eras, there was also a Roman house with a labyrinthine set of rooms.
8. Santa Maria Sopra Minerva
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 1,861 reviews
Reviewed By JonathonGreen
Little remains of original 13th century church.Michelangelo sculpture inside.Superb 15th century frescoes including some by Lippi and the tomb of Pope Paul the 4th.Body of St Catherine of Siena (minus the head) lies under the high alter.
9. Basilica di Santa Maria in Aracoeli
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 705 reviews
Reviewed By Margo7850p
One of the most wonderful basilicas in Rome. Located near Piazza del Campidoglio, at the top of the spectacular 124 marble steps. Plates comes from various ancient buildings. It was built in the 13th century, probably on the site of the ancient temple of Juno. The church was built by Franciscans , probably according to the design of Arnolfo di Cambio. In 1348, on the initiative of Cola di Rienzi , a staircase was added as a votive offering of thanks to the Mother of God for stopping the plague epidemic . The stairs were designed by Lorenzo di Simone di Andreozzo . The interior is an absolute spiritual feast. However, the temple is known primarily from Santo Bambino - the fifteenth-century figurine of the Baby Jesus. The figurine was reportedly stolen on February 1, 1994, and replaced by a copy.
10. Santa Maria della Pace
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 164 reviews
Reviewed By NewYorkBuckwheat - Huntington, United States
This church is right off the Piazza Navona. It has art work from several Renaissance masters that you wouldn’t expect in a church that is off the main radar of people visiting Rome. If your in Rome on Sunday, mass is lovely here in an intimate setting. Worth a visit.
