We’ll start with the church of Saint Mary Major, or Santa Maria Maggiore, the biggest church in Rome that is dedicated to Maria, the mother of Jesus Christ, and one of the four most important churches in Rome. Why was it built? The special story about its construction will be told as we go on with the tour. Inside Santa Maria Maggiore we can look at the golden ceiling, the beautiful mosaic from the fifth century, the tomb of the great artist and architect, Gian Lorenzo Bernini, and the relic that belongs to the life of Jesus.
From there we will get to a beautiful, round square with a giant fountain: the Nymphs fountain in the Republic Square (Piazza della Repubblica), and we’ll enter a church that was planned and built inside the remains of an ancient Roman structure: the church of St. Mary of the Angels and the Martyrs, or in Italian: Santa Maria degli Angeli e dei Maratiri. The church was planned by no other than the genius Michelangelo!
We will continue to the church of Saint Mary of the Victory (Santa Maria della Vittoria): there we can be amazed by the masterpiece of the artist Bernini.
After that we will visit a very special, small church (San Carlino) that was built by another artist: Bernini’s greatest competitor: Borromini. Before we get to the presidential palace where the president of Italy resides, we’ll go into another church that was built by Bernini: Saint Andrew’s at the Quirinal.
After a coffee or ice-cream break, we will end the tour in the Church of the Capuchins where we will watch a macabre and interesting show: walls decorated in human bones!