Gorgeous Churches in Rome Without the Crowds

Our fav is San Clemente. May not be the most gorgeous, but the history is insane - it's built on 3 different levels of dates - 1st Century, 4th Century, & 11th Century.

Chiesa del Gesù, one block from Piazza Venezia and the Vittorio Emanuele II Monument.

https://www.rome.net/church-of-the-gesu

A good list, EP! I've been to Santa Sabina + adjoining orange garden, Santa Maria Maggiore, Santo Stefano Rotondo and Gesu and can recommend them all, although I'd think SM Maggiore will be heavily visited; it's one of the 4 papal basilicas with its own set of Holy Doors so is on the Jubilee pilgrimage route for the faithful. The current Pope will be buried amongst 7 others entombed there when his time comes.

There is a 2nd-century mithraeum underneath S. Stefano Rotundo (not open to visitors yet) that's an indication of the site's age, and the frescoes in the church are truly grisly: martyrdom in all of its ghastly (!) forms decorates this popular venue for weddings. Go figure. It's close to San Clemente so it's easy to combine those visits.

I'll add a couple of additional venerable ladies that are off the grid enough not to be overrun:
Santa Maria in Trastevere:
https://turismoroma.it/en/places/basilica-santa-maria-trastevere
Glorious mosaics. As the Trastevere neighborhood has become a rather popular with tourists and this church is already on many best-of-churches list, it could be busier than usual.

The Basilica of Sant'Agnese outside the Walls and the Mausoleum of Santa Costanza:
https://www.turismoroma.it/en/places/basilica-santagnese-outside-walls-and-mausoleum-santa-costanza
https://www.turismoroma.it/en/places/catacombs-saint-agnese
These two + the catacombs of St. Agnes, are really off the grid but close to the Annabaliano metro (line B) station so not all that difficult to get to. I've yet to do them but they're on the list for next time!

San Lorenzo fuori le Mura:
https://www.turismoroma.it/en/places/basilica-san-lorenzo-fuori-le-mura
https://www.turismoroma.it/en/places/monumental-cemetery-verano
Another one still on my must-do list (There are SO many interesting churches in Rome, and I'm not even very religious!) that's near the entrance of the Monumental Cemetery of Rome, so one can combine a look at this church with a long wander of interesting tombs and sculptures of a cemetery so expansive that breathing room should be easily found. :O)

Thanks for the list and kathy thanks for your additions, I will make use of it in about a month. We've been to just Santa Maria Maggiore. We actually didn't find any of the churches (and we went to many) all that crowded except St. Peter's Basilica and the Pantheon. To me, it seemed like Rome was like many cities we've visited that have crowds in the streets and not many folks in the churches or other attractions other than the cities' very top sites.

Thanks again!

I really liked San Clemente and also loved Sopra Minerva near the Pantheon.

Also a vote for San Clemente. No big crowds when we went, but fascinating to see

The Basilica of Sant'Agnese outside the Walls and the Mausoleum of
Santa Costanza:
https://www.turismoroma.it/en/places/basilica-santagnese-outside-walls-and-mausoleum-santa-costanza
https://www.turismoroma.it/en/places/catacombs-saint-agnese

Agreed, Kate, for off-the-beaten-path churches in Rome, a couple of gems. In truth, this isn't that far out of the way--a bus ride from Termini station north on via Nomentana. It was near our friends' winter apartment, so didn't seem that far away, frankly. Both were decidedly deserted in early March 2017, which was nirvana for me. One of them--I think Agnese--had some incredible 3rd Century mosaic if memory serves.

And not far away from there is Villa Torlonia, the pre-WWII home of Mussolini. I hear they have spiffed it up for Jubilee 2025, but then it was unkempt & dilapidated in a cool, bombed-out way.

I have been to countless cathedrals, basilicas etc in Europe, and Santa Maria in Trastevere, Rome is one of my all-time favorites. The mosaic floors and navy blue and gold mosaic alter area are exquisite! In general I love wandering in the Trastevere area.

There are gorgeous, fairly unvisited churches all over Rome. Here are 3 that are all fairly close to each other (especially the first two), all right in the center of things...

Santa Maria della Pace

Santa Maria dell'Anima

Sant'Andrea della Valle