Located between the Pantheon and the Trevi Fountain is the beautiful Sant’Ignazio di Loyola Church, a Baroque-style Jesuit church built in 1650. Mapping the ceiling is a fresco painted by Andrea Pozzo with designs illustrating the continents known at the time — Africa, America, Asia, and Europe. There is also a fresco of a dome that looks so 3D that many visitors think it’s a real dome, although it’s an illusion. Numerous chapels line the interior, and everywhere you look are marble, painted, and sculpted delights that are marvels to your eye. I recommend peeking into any open church you pass on the streets of Rome as the intricacy, artfulness, and tranquility of each one makes for a lovely experience. Most churches require you to keep your shoulders (and sometimes knees) covered when inside, so I would advise that you keep a sweater in your bag.
From Roma with love, Kate
(Katherine Schick is a high school student from Watertown, Mass., who is spending a month with a host family in Rome while studying Italian and documenting her travels for the Headliners of Summer newsroom with her “Postcards from Italy” series.)
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–July 23, 2023–
