Chiesa Santa Maria in Trastevere
Listed under Churches & Abbeys in Rome, Italy.
There must be so many lovely churches in Rome, but Chiesa Santa Maria is close to my idea of perfection. It was one of the first churches in which masses were openly celebrated in Rome and there has been a church here since 340 AD although the present church was built on the site in the 1140s.
It’s in main piazza of the old Trastavere quarter where you can stop for an after-dinner gelato in the evening when the piazza comes alive with street entertainers, bars and restaurants.
You enter through the cool portico adorned with broken marble plaques from ancient Roman tombs, written in Latin and Greek. Inside the church is adorned with beautiful mosaics and frescos and is full of colour. The columns that line the nave were plundered from the ancient Roman Baths of Caracalla.
Written by 
heather on her travels.
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