Attractions in Centro Storico (Rome)

Museo Boncompagni

This is Italy's first collection dedicated to the decorative arts. It exhibits objects from architecture, fashion and design from 1700 to the modern day. One of the most famous pieces is the silver and gilded bronze cradle given by the Comune of Rome to King Vittorio Emanuele III and Queen Elena on the birth of Princess Iolanda. There are objects of glassware, pottery, furniture and clothes, some donated by famous designers such as Galitzine, Valentino, Lancetti, Gattinoni and the Fontana sisters. Admission: Free.

Palazzo della Cancelleria

The construction of this palace was financed by the gambling wins of Cardinal Raffaele Riario. The wonderful residence in early Renaissance style is said to have been designed by Bramante. Interior decorations during the 16th Century were carried out by various artists including Giorgio Vasari and Francesco Salviati. The palace was later confiscated by the Church and turned into a Papal Chancellery. Now it belongs entirely to the Vatican. A part of the palace incorporates the 4th Century CE church of San Lorenzo in Damaso. You are advised to phone before visiting.

Museo Canonica

When the Commune of Rome allowed one of its no longer used administrative buildings in Villa Borghese to be used by a sculptor, it did not contemplate it being turned into a museum. The sculptor Pietro Canonica renovated the building at his own expense by promising to donate his works to the city. The museum was opened about 40 years ago and exhibits studies, models, sketches and original works of the artist. After the death of his wife, Canonica's house was also opened to the public where a collection of 19th-century Piedmontese paintings, objects and furnishings can be admired. Admission: EUR 2.

Santa Maria in Aracoeli

The beautiful church of Santa Maria in Aracoeli, built on the foundations of the temple of Juno, is located on top of the Capitoline hill, near the Campidoglio. It is reached by more than 100 steps, which, according to tradition, one must climb on one's knees in order to obtain pardon for one's sins. The interior of the church is magnificently decorated with paintings by Pinturicchio, and the ceiling bears frescoes recording the battle of Lepanto. It is said that the statue of the baby Jesus, carved from a tree trunk from the garden of Gethsemane, has miraculous powers. However, the original statue was stolen and never recovered.

Santi Cosma e Damiano

Many Roman churches were built on the foundations of pagan temples and this one is no exception: its vestibule is a temple dedicated to Romulus, the mythical founder of Rome, although this has never been proved. The rest of the church is shaped from a room in the Foro della Pace di Vespasiano. The apse holds a beautiful Byzantine mosaic depicting Christ descending a staircase of orange clouds against a blue background. During the Christmas period, the beautiful 18th-century nativity scene with exquisitely carved Neapolitan statuettes is well worth a visit.

Santa Francesca Romana (Santa Maria Nova al Foro Romano)

The saint to whom this church is dedicated lived in the Trastevere district of the city in the 15th Century. She devoted her life to helping the poor and the sick and founded an association for women on their own. It was sanctified 200 years later and was dedicated to a church called the Santa Maria Nuova. In the church you can see a slab of stone that bears the imprints left by the knees of St Peter and St Paul. Every year on March 9, Romans drive here, as St Francesca Romana is the patron saint of cars.

Church of Sant'Ignazio

Church of Sant'Ignazio was built in the first decade of the 17th Century to pay homage to the founder of the Jesuit Order. The magnificent splendor of this chapel is typical of the period. Inside, you can admire the precious stones, gilding, marble and stucco work. For the frescoes they called upon the artist Andrea Pozzo, who designed the trompe l'oeil effect ceiling featuring a cupola. A cupola was designed but never built, due to the proximity of the monastery of Dominican friars, as it would have blocked the light in their living quarters.

Chiesa Nuova o Santa Maria in Vallicella

This church has had two names ever since San Filippo Neri gained pope Gregorio XIII's permission to rebuild a new church on the same site as the medieval Santa Maria in Vallicella. Work started towards the end of the 16th Century and the finer details, such as the façade, were finished nearly 100 years later. Great artists have contributed to the adornments, including Borromini with his Oratory, and Pietro Da Cortona's frescoes in the vault, dome and apse. The chapels are an art-lover's paradise with masterpieces by Rubens, Carlo Saraceni, Barocci and others. Chiesa Nuova o Santa Maria in Vallicella is  dedicated to San Filippo Neri is covered in valuable marble, semi-precious stones and mother-of-pearl. Neri's relics rest beneath the altar. The interior of the church was decorated only after Neri's death, according to his wishes.

Sant'Andrea della Valle

This church, with the second largest dome in Rome, was designed by Carlo Maderno. He called on his nephew, the young stone-cutter Francesco Borromini, to help him make the capitals of the dome's lantern. Baroque artists such as Giovanni Lanfranco and Domenichino, contributed to the decoration of the walls and ceilings. Popes Pius II and III are buried here, as is Monsignor Giovanni della casa, author of Galateo.

Santa Maria del Popolo

In 1099 Pope Pasquale II had a chapel erected in honor of the Madonna, to commemorate the victory of the crusaders who had liberated the Holy Sepulchre. Two hundred years later, Pope Gregory IX enlarged this Santa Maria del Popolo chapel and brought to it a painting of the Virgin, said to be by St Luke. But it was under Pope Sixtus IV that the church really took shape. Its interior presents numerous works of art, including frescoes by Pinturichhio in the Cappella Della Rovere, dramatic paintings by Caravaggio in the Cappella Cerasi, and the Cappella Chigi, designed by Raphael with sculptures by Bernini and Lorenzetti. The splendid stained-glass windows, by the French artist Guillaume de Marcillat, are unique in Rome for the period.

Santa Maria dei Miracoli e Santa Maria in Montesanto

The original project was for two twin churches, but during the construction various necessary modifications were made. The architect, Carlo Rainaldi, finished the construction of Santa Maria di Montesanto in 1675 and began work on the neighboring Santa Maria dei Miracoli, completing it in 1681. The domes were restored in the early 19th Century and covered in slate tiles, an unusual technique in Rome, giving the domes a smoky color which can be seen from the terrace of Pincio. Santa Maria di Montesanto is known as "The church of the artists" because of its proximity to Via Margutta & via del Babuino, making it a common venure for the funerals of artists, film directors and letterati. Both churches present the visitor with works of illustrious artists, such Baciccia, Carlo Maratta and Antonio Raggi, a pupil of Bernini's, responsible for the allegorical stuccoes.

Chiesa di San Girolamo della Carità

The Arciconfraternita della Carità ("Archbrotherhood of Charity") occupied the premises of this church from the first half of the 16th Century onwards and had it rebuilt in 1660. The church, with its very beautiful panelled wood, is known for the Capella Spada, a masterpiece of Borromini's, decorated with multicolored marbles that simulate tapestries. The same intention is behind the black marble flowers on the floor, and the balustrade, which is made of jasper but looks like hanging cloth, supported by two marble angels. The wooden wing of one of the angels can be turned to give access to the altar. The Cappella Antamoro, rich in stuccoes and consecrated to San Filippo Neri, is the only example in Rome of the work of the Piedmontese architect Filippo Juvarra. By crossing the sacristy, it is possible to visit the rooms where the saint used to live.