For our visit to Sant'Eusebio, we will return to the Esquiline Hill, home of the Monti district and the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore. With its rounded arches on the front, the grand staircase, and the second story windows it appears more like a late Renaissance palace or, more specifically, a Tuscan country villa. Instead, it is one of the oldest churches in Rome, dating to the late 300s. The staircase in front is a result of the excavations and lowering of the surroun

The Castel Sant'Angelo, or Mausoleum of Hadrian, is a large, circular structure on the Tiber River, visible from St. Peter's Basilica. Originally Hadrian's mausoleum, its solid construction made it an ideal papal fortress, connected by a visible passage to St. Peter's. It also served as a prison, holding Caterina Sforza and the fictional Mario Cavaradossi from Puccini's Tosca.