The Basilica dei Santi Silvestro e Martino is dedicated to two saints from the 4th century who never actually crossed paths. Because of this, the church can be said to suffer from an identity crisis! Saint Silvester was the Pope who carried the church into the age of Constantine. Saint Martin of Tours was the former soldier who became a monk to champion the poor in what would become France. Their names are linked here in this building and in the layers of history.

The Church of Saint Paul Outside the Walls is the resting place of the Apostle Paul, buried in what was originally a burial spot outside the city walls. The original church was established by Constantine over the site where a Christian woman named Lucina buried Paul after his martyrdom. In 386, a massive five-aisled basilica replaced the smaller structure, and despite a catastrophic fire in 1823, the church was rebuilt to its original dimensions, remaining focused on the Ap

The Basilica of San Lorenzo in Damaso gets its name from Pope Damasus I, who held the papacy from 366 to 384 AD. He is known as the pope who commissioned Jerome to translate the Bible into the Latin Vulgate. Unlike the other churches bearing the name of Lorenzo, there are no relics or physical elements related to Saint Lawrence. Instead, Damasus was an admirer of Saint Lawrence and built the church over his own home. San Lorenzo in Damaso is a titulus church.

The Basilica di Santi Quattro Coronati (Four Crowned Martyrs, in English) does not resemble a church from the exterior. It is constructed of solid brick and sits high up over the roadway, appearing more like a defensive structure than a basilica. This church has a long history of rebuilding, with the earliest foundation established when Constantine was emperor, just prior to 312 AD. The Four Crowned Martyrs were sculptors martyred in 287 AD and are the patrons of the sculp

Santa Croce in Gerusalemme (in English, Holy Cross in Jerusalem) is a fascinating place where you can be present in the space of some pretty amazing history and legends. Turn your mind back to the time when the emperor Constantine legalized Christianity in 313 AD. His mother became enamored with the religion and traveled to Jerusalem to find the physical items related to Christianity. She returned with pieces of the true cross, thorns from the crown of thorns, and nails fr

Santa Susanna is a lovely church located very close to the Termini train station, just north of the Piazza della Repubblica. The marvelous Late Renaissance-Early Baroque exterior boasts a beautiful facade made of local Travertine marble. The massive, Corinthian columns of the facade appear embedded in the wall. The church is a refurbishment of a titulus church. Santa Susanna was martyred under Diocletian. Regrettably, the church is currently closed with no signs of reope

The Basilica of San Lorenzo in Lucina is a wonderful treat, conveniently located in the northern part of the City. This titular church, built over a Roman apartment complex, houses the legendary grill upon which Saint Lawrence was martyred in 258. Though documented as early as the 4th century, the current structure features an 11th-century rebuild and a magnificent 17th-century Baroque interior under a golden coffered ceiling.

The church of Santi Cosma e Damiano sits right on the edge of the Roman Forum and is dedicated to two physician saints who were martyred under Diocletian in the year 287, when they were beheaded for their faith. They became tremendously well known, and, because of their work as doctors (medici), the Medici family in Florence embraced them. Perhaps the most curious aspect of the church is the location in the Roman forum.

San Sisto Vecchio honors Pope Sixtus II, who was martyred in 258 in the same persecution and orders which brought about the death of St. Laurence; Sixtus was the Pope, and Laurence was one of his deacons. He was laid to rest in the catacombs outside of Rome, and translated here to this church sometime in the 500s. To be clear, there is really no question of the veracity of the relics; shortly after his death his resting place was memorialized with a plaque, allowing for ea

On Tuesday, the Third Week of Lent we turn to one of the oldest churches in Rome, constructed between 140 and 155 AD. Santa Pudenziana is dedicated to one of the daughters of Pudens, a Roman who was converted and subsequently baptized by Peter in Rome. Typical of the oldest churches in Rome, this is a titular church, meaning it was built over the remains of a Roman home.

San Marco is among he oldest churches in Rome, and you may be surprised to hear that you have passed by it. If you have stood at the Wedding Cake and looked out at the Piazza Venezia, you have seen this church - without even noticing it! It shares a wall with the Palazzo Venezia, the headquarters of Mussolini's government, and faces the Wedding Cake Monument. The Piazza Venezia and the open space in front of the church of San Marco create a large open space together in the

On this day we return to San Lorenzo (Saint Lawrence), one of seven pilgrimage churches of Rome, which were churches established for incoming pilgrims as "the" seven churches to visit on a pilgrimage. St. Laurence was a deacon of the church, an ally and associate to the pope, and was immensely popular in Rome. We have already visited the place of his martyrdom in the Church of San Lorenzo in Panisperna where the grill on which he was martyred is contained.

The original church devoted to the saints Marcellinus and Pietrus was likely consecrated in the late 4th century. The pope often credited with the building of the original structure was Pope Siricius, who died in 399. The present day church, constructed in 1751, although located in the same area, sadly does not even appear to bear the same footprint as the original church. The square church reflects the Rococo style, with it's muted colors and neo-classical style. The relic

The most striking thing to a modern visitor to San Vitale is not the architecture, or the art, or the history. What stands out the most is the setting. Located on one of the busiest streets of Rome, nestled between a gleaming white exhibition hall and a fire station, many feet below the level of the street, sits the Basilica of San Vitale, constructed in the year 400. The church itself is unornamented plain brick. In order to enter the church you must descend more than thi

One of the oldest and most beautiful churches in Rome, Santa Maria in Trastevere is also located in one of the most delightful areas of the city. Away from the crows of tourists that surround the Vatican or the Colosseum (but, to be clear, no less crowded), just on the other side of the Tiber river, you will find the area called Trastevere. The crowds here are more local and more interested in relaxing and enjoying their time in the city without any schedule or agenda.

The story of Saint Cecilia, from her conversion to where she is today, is one of the most touching in terms of her as an individual and most interesting for the development of churches in Rome. The story of Cecilia begins in the reign of the emperor, Septimius Severus (AD 193-211). Cecilia was a young woman of faith who was engaged to a Roman, Valerius. On their wedding day she converted him to Christianity, and he, subsequently, converted his brothers.

The church of Santa Balbina is a quiet, but relatively central section of Rome. Located within view of the Baths of Caracalla this church is relatively secluded, and surrounded by the unadorned brick ruins of ancient Rome. Simple in design and ornamentation, the story of Santa Balbina is a fascinating story and touches on a church we have visited previously in this Lenten church journey.

Within an easy walk of the Colosseum you will find the Basilica of San Clemente, a basilica which embodies all the layers of history in Rome. If you do not know what you are looking for, it would be easy to miss this fascinating church. The entrance to the church is through a portico that is walled on the outside, and, from the outside, it is a very plain wall at that. But this building has literal layers of history: The lower level consists of the remains of buildings fro

Today's church is a lovely church just south of the Colosseum. There are two items of note that are directly related to the evolution of the church. Pope Paschal I held the papacy from 817-824, just a few short years. In that time, however, he is credited for several building projects in Rome, including Santa Maria in Domnica. His image appears in the mosaic within the basilica, and, moreover, we will have an opportunity to meet with Pope Pascal I again.

St. Peter's Basilica, the resting place of the Apostle Peter and the center of Catholicism, stands on the site where Constantine built the original 4th-century church. This first post explores the historical and spiritual significance of "Old St. Peter's," the typical basilica style of the early church, and the enduring tradition identifying this specific location as the site of Peter's martyrdom and burial.