Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
TOP SIGHT
CHIESA DI SANTA MARIA DEL POPOLO
A magnificent repository of art, this is one of Rome's earliest and richest Renaissance
churches. Artists including Pinturicchio worked on the building in the 15th century,
while Bramante and Bernini added later architectural elements. The lavish chapels,
decorated by Caravaggio, Bernini, Raphael and others, were commissioned by local
noble families.
DON'T MISS…
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Caravaggio's paintings in the Cerasi Chapel
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Raphael and Bernini's work in the Chigi Chapel
PRACTICALITIES
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MAP
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Piazza del Popolo
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7.30am-noon & 4-7pm
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Flaminio
The Church
The first chapel was built here in 1099, over the tombs of the Domiti family, to exorcise the
ghost of Nero, who was secretly buried on this spot and whose malicious spirit was thought
to haunt the area. Some 400 years later, in 1472, it was given a major overhaul by Pope
Sixtus IV. Pinturicchio was called in to decorate the pope's family chapel, the Cappella
Delle Rovere, and to paint a series of frescoes on the apse, itself designed by Bramante.
Also in the apse are Rome's first stained-glass windows, crafted by Frenchman Guillaume
