A Must See in Rome: This Beautiful Church Designed by Michelangelo

On our bonus day in Rome, we happened upon this incredible church, in the center of the city. When we discovered that it is older than dirt and designed by Michelangelo, we absolutely had to go inside and check it out.

The name of this church in Italian is Santa Maria degli Angeli e dei Martiri.

In English that translates to Basilica of St. Mary of the Angels and of the Martyrs, according to Wikipedia.

It was right down the street from our hotel. We had to ask around a little bit to figure out that this is still an operating church, and it is open and free to walk in at certain times of day. Would you believe it? We happened to be standing outside when they opened the doors. I was so excited to go inside!

I love that Alan snapped this photo of me gawking at everything. There was so much to behold! This is the only Renaissance style church in Rome.

In fact, this building was originally the site of the Baths of Diocletian, built from 298-306 AD. Ten thousand Christian slaves constructed this monumental pool that was over five times larger than an Olympic pool. The church is just a small part of the original baths.

The baths were actually commissioned by Emperor Maximian in honor of Diocletian. They shared rule of the Roman Empire at the time. But Diocletian never visited his namesake baths himself. Instead, he actually forced Emperor Maximian to abdicate. Nice, huh?

When the Catholic church obtained this site a thousand years later, Pope Pius IV gave Michelangelo the project of turning the area into a church.

They designed the basilica in honor of all the Christian slaves who’d built the baths as well as other martyrs both known and unknown.

This is a view of the side of the church from the outside. You see this as you are walking through the city, and as foreigners who know next to nothing about Rome, you just think it is a ruin. But in fact, this church is a big deal.

According to this article, “Santa Maria degli Angeli was the official state church of the Kingdom of Italy (1870–1946).”

These days they still use the church for many national ceremonies.

When Michelangelo passed away in 1564, here in Rome, his student, Jacopo Del Duca took over the project.

It was so nice and peaceful in there too, and cool. It was a hundred degrees Fahrenheit outside, so entering a quiet, cool room dedicated to God was balm to the soul.

The beautiful Renaissance interior was nothing at all like the ancient-ruins-looking exterior.

That is John the Baptist, a happier version than the captivating and shocking one also located in this church:

When I saw that, all I could say at first was, “Whoa. Who is… Ohhhh” Then I went to work getting the best photo I could. This sculpture of John the Baptist, by Polish sculptor Igor Mitoraj (1944-2014). of his famous beheading, is a recent addition to the church’s art collection.

It feels very real and haunting when you first see it. There’s something extra eerie about a chopped off head statue.

Something scary is happening in this painting, but I am not sure what it is. What do you think?

This organ is the largest I have ever seen, and it is even more impressive in person. It is still in use, too. I wish I could hear it.

Look how the light shines down into the chapel area.

This church is actually in a cross shape. The part with the organ is in one of the horizontal wings of the cross shape.

I am pretty sure this painting depicts the persecution of Christians.

If you go back behind the church, which you can walk straight back there easily, you come to these rough ancient looking walls again.

Some places we went in Rome, there were plaques explaining things in both Italian and English. Other places, there was only Italian. I was not able to learn quite as much about this magnificent place as I would have liked to.

I did learn that part of Michelangelo’s restoration project was to raise the floor of this whole place by 2 meters to bring it to the 1500s street level.

This whole back area feels like walking through an ancient ruin, but then they have added this tall statue of Galileo there. In fact, there is an underlying theme of astronomy running through one side of the church, as it houses a meridian line that runs diagonally across one side and the middle of the building.

I was surprised to see Galileo here. Though he was a Christian, the Roman Catholic church of his time (the 1600s) put him under house arrest for his teachings about the sun being the center of the universe. Galileo was a Christian who was persecuted by the church itself. Now it looks like they are back to honoring him, with this statue in the courtyard of a Roman church of national importance.

We walked through the church, into the courtyard out back that had all of this ancient brick, and then we went back inside to check out the other side of the church.

This was the central, main chapel area. I like how it is open to people to come, look around, and pray.

This painting above must be the crucifixion of the apostle Peter. He’s the only one I have heard of being crucified upside down. Wasn’t that Peter?

You can see General Diaz’s tomb in the photo. He was an Italian general in World War I.

Even the ceilings are ornate.

This is a photo of the meridian sundial that runs along the floor. The sun actually shines down this line, accurately indicating the time of day and year. Pope Clement XI commissioned  Francesco Bianchini to build this. It was finished in 1702. It was restored in 2002, still works, and can predict Easter accurately.

Isn’t that something? The twelve constellations of the western zodiac line the meridian line in the marble.

This is us, standing outside the front of the church. You can see the other arch-shaped buildings of the piazza across the street. This marks the other borders of the vast baths of Diocletian.

Of all the places we visited in Rome this was by far my favorite. I think the number one reason for that is that it was quiet and uncrowded. Plus, it was cool, not hot and stuffy. This is definitely worth a visit if you go to Rome.