Favorite Christian Sites in Rome

I'm agnostic, but when in Rome, do as the Roman Catholics do.

Mammertime Prison was interesting and it's a pretty small place in-between the Roman Forum and the Capitoline Museum (which I highly recommend, especially if you are interested in ancient Rome and art).

I also second the recommendations of St. Peters in Chains (been there twice) and Santa Maria in Trastevere. For the first one, try to get there early when it opens, before the tour groups flood in. We had the place almost to ourselves for a good 20 minutes, which was magical. As we left, two groups of 20-30 each converged on the place and the magic was gone.

Nate,, I don't know if you are interesting in the Hop on and Off site seeing buses( you buy a one or two day pass and can hop on and off anywhere on the routes,, which would circle through all main sites) .. but in Rome, I noticed they actually have Christian Sites Hop on and Off buses.. might be a great idea,, as they will stop at all the main Christian sites..

Great thanks for the help so far. Please Keep them coming. The on and off Bus sounds like a great Fit. Include Catholic or Christian sites. My Wife has been to many of the sites in Isreal where Jesus walked. I would love to go sometime in the near future just waiting for RS to cover it!!!

Absolutely go to Mammartine Prison where Paul was imprisoned. We made it a point to go both times we visited Rome. Also agree that Saint Peter in Chains is a "must see". We also visited the Holy Stairs which are next door to San Giovanni en Laterano which was a great church and one of our favorites. I can't remember all of Rick's "Pilgrim's Rome" churches, but we also really liked San Clemente and seeing all the layers underground where previous churches had been. Another favorite was Santa Maria en Trastevere.

I recommend the Scavi Tour for sure. Our guide was excellent and was a young Catholic priest from the U.S. who was studying Cannon Law at the Vatican. Scala Santa (holy stairs) is across the street from San Giovanni en Laterno and we were pleasantly surprised to find out there is a second staricase if you don't feel up to ascending on your knees. The Mouth of Truth church is interesting and the restoration work there is complete. It will be a challenge for you to see all that you want to see in that time frame.

Hi Nate,

What a great way to approach Rome! You know how Rick says he tries to see Rome "as a temporary Catholic"? It's good advice for non-Catholics, and I think one thing that also helps get into the mindset is to travel with the imagination of an early believer, as I'm sure your wife knows from visiting Israel.

This may be too nerdy, but Rome's Christian sites were more moving to me when I had a corresponding passage from the Bible or from early church writers to read while I was there. It helped me to peel away the centuries and imagine how Peter and Paul and other early Christians experienced the city. Here are a few; I'm sure there are many, many more:

Acts 28 describes Paul's arrival in Rome and records some public preaching. Great to read on the Appian Way, as you envision how grand this city must have seemed to the visitors from the Galilee.
Philippians 1 contains numerous references to Paul's chains, and the book is accepted as one written while he was imprisoned in Rome. I actually couldn't read this in the Mammertine Prison -- too creepy.
Ephesians and Colossians -- also accepted as prison books from Paul's time in Rome.
Matthew 27 recounts Jesus before Pilate. Reading it outside the Scala Santa is good preparation.
If you can get your hands on "Acts of the Christian Martyrs," that's the very old and very definitive text on the early saints. Make photocopies of the book, or else just print the wikipedia page "Christian martyrs" for a brush-up. It helped bring extra meaning to the Colosseum and the catacombs.

I hope that gives you some ideas! Have a wonderful trip!

Our friends just returned from Rome last week and they reported that the Mammertine Prison was closed for repairs.They thought it was going to be closed for a while.Too bad as it is a great place to visit.Rick Steves Pilgrims Rome on page 657 of the 2009 Italy book is very good.SantaMaria Maggiore,SanGiovanni In Laterano(includes the holy stairs) and San Clemente and St.Peter in Chains are all in the same area and makes a nice 2-3 hour walk.All four churches are different and interesting.

Hi Nate,
We left Rome two weeks ago. We were very moved by St.Peters in Chains (wow) and the Holy Stairs at Scala Santa. I am so glad we took the time to take the RS Pilgrims tour. Well worth it!!

There are about 931 churches in the Rome metro area - so plenty of opportunities to find your niche! Some of the most popular include...

The four major Basilicas of Rome: St. Peter's, Saint Paul Outside the Walls, Santa Maria Maggiore, and San Giovanni in Laterano. Combined with San Lorenzo fuori le mura, Santa Croce in Gerusalemme, and Santuario della Madonna del Divino Amore -- these seven churches constituted the Seven Pilgrim Churches of Rome. Also noteworthy are:

S.Maria Aracoeli - on Campdoglio

S.Maria Sopra Minerva - next to the Pantheon

Santa Cecilia in Trastevere

San Clemente - 2 churches in one!

Santa Susanna - The National church in Rome of The United States of America

Santa Maria in Trastevere

Santa Sabina - on Aventine Hill

Santi Giovanni e Paolo - on the Celian Hill

Santa Costanza - Constantine's daughters Constantina and Helena were buried here

San Pietro in Vincoli - Moses here!

Santa Maria in Cosmedin - Bocca della Verita here!

Santi Apostoli - for a short time, the tomb of Michelangelo until he was moved to S. Croce

Santa Maria ad Martyres - OK, it's the Pantheon!

Sant'Angelo in Pescheria - in the Ghetto next to Porticus Octaviae

Santa Maria del Popolo - Chigi chapel and Caravaggio's

San Francesco a Ripa - Bernini statue

Santa Maria della Pace - near Navona

Sant'Agostino - also near Navona; Caravaggio and Raphael

Church of the Gesù - mother church of Jesuits

Trinità dei Monti - top of the Spanish Steps

San Luigi dei Francesi - National Church in Rome of France - 3 Carravaggio's

Santa Maria della Vittoria - Bernin's Ecstasy of St. Theresa

Church of Santa Maria Maddalena - near Pantheon

Santa Maria della Concezione dei Cappuccini - The "bone" church

And far too many more to mention here. Don't forget all the Catacombs! There are many Christian Sites here.

Ciao, Ron In Rome!

Kathleen,

You might like the church that is tucked up the backside of Palentine Hill. I have no idea what the name is, but if you cross from the Colosseum as if going to the Forum and head up the hill towards the Arch, there's a path that leads off to the left before you reach the fence around the Forum. You walk uphill for a ways, following a long wall and at the end is a mid-size church. I don't remember how ornate it was, but it was very quiet and the best part was that over the door was a stained glass window of the Colosseum.

We also--completely by accident--found a very plain, quiet church off a side street in Orvieto with lovely paintings on the columns. You could just wander around and see what you can find. There are a lot of little hidden surprises tucked away.

When I posted this question I could not have imagined the great responses I have recieved. Please elaborate or add a new one as I would love to hear more about your experiences.

Liz, Mary, Susan, and Judy thanks for the endorsement to your individual favorites we will make sure to hit them.

Jack thanks for the heads up that Mamertine is closed for a while. I am very dissapointed as that was on the top of my list. I am going to verify when we are there and if it still is we will save it for another trip.
Emma that is not nerdy at all. It is exactly what we are looking for "Real and Moving" experiences. What an awesome idea to read verses, chapters, and books that are about the area and time period. I showed my wife and we were ready to jump on the plane.
Liz my wife also loves art and we will be doing plenty of the museums, churches, etc. Thanks for your input and opinion on that. I hope some day you get to know the greatest artist of all. Sunrise/set, autumn colors, the Grand Canyon, Swiss Alps, human body, just to name a few.
Ron I had never heard of the Seven Pilgrim Churches that will be fun to check out. I have been looking at your site and we will be in contact. I have read many other posts about your services on this side and all of them are good. Thanks again to all and I look forward to hearing from more of you.

I'm interested is seeing some chruches of a simpler, less ornate design (kind of the opposite of St. Peters). Can someone recommend something smaller and quieter?

If Sunday mass was available at something like that, I would be absolutely thrilled.

As Ron in Rome said, there are so many churches in Rome. It has taken six trips to Rome for me to even begin to see just a small number and each one is so special. One of my new favorites is Santa Maria Aracoeli--we had passed by many times and dreaded or were too tired to walk up those steps. We discovered that by entering via the wedding cake/ typewriter museum entrance you have easy entry into this beautiful church--what makes it so special? The many and beautiful crystal chandeliers. Information within the church indicated that Christmas services were especially wonderful. Do not miss the Pantheon which, IMO, is a highlight of Rome.

I'm not a religious person but when I went to Rome, I was a temporary Catholic. I had visited 18 churches in 5 days, and LOVE all of them.

After a while though, you get "churched-out" because you have seen so many of them.

I was especially impressed with St Clemete because it's so different from the more ornate churches in Rome. It's extremely barebone and I love it that way. Unfortunately I couldn't visit the underground of that Church (pre-Christian site) as they were just closing when I went.

I followed Rick's Pilgrim's tour as well as all the Churches he outlined in his Pantheon chapter. They were all beautiful.

The Holy Stairs is definitely moving. Must see. It's so closed to St. Giovanni in Laterano anyways. Around there is the tallest obelisk in Rome, go take a look.
I treasured all these experience when I was there, especially the Easter Mass I went to in St. Peter's. Oh I can go on and on....

I can't add a whole lot to this discussion other than to recommend that you climb up to the top of St. Peters dome. This was one of my highlights of Rome, the whole city laid out in front of you, the climb is fascinating in itself and at one point, you get to look down into St. Peters, then you sort of climb through the dome itself. That was an amazing experience! I have talked to so many people who went to Rome and didn't know they could do this or didn't know that you got to go outside once you were at the top.

Enjoy your trip.