Explore Religious Heritage Across Europe

The Baroque church of St. Ignatius stands on the square of the same name and was built by Cardinal Ludovisi in 1626 in honor of St. Ignatius Loyola, founder of the Society of Jesus. The church was built next to the Collegio Romano Palace and replaced the church of S. Maria Annunziata from the 16th century. The church houses the tomb of Pope Gregory XV.

Sant'Ivo alla Sapienza is a church built between 1642 and 1660 by Francesco Borromini, the architect of La Sapienza University. For its artistic, technical and symbolic values, the building is considered one of the masterpieces of the architect, of the Baroque and of the history of architecture in general. The works were conditioned by the pre-existence of the already built palace and courtyard, which left a very limited quadrangular space for the construction of the church. But the result is of extreme purity and apparent simplicity.

Santa Anna de Barcelona is a church and an ancient monastery. As a monastery it belonged to the Order of the Holy Sepulchre. The Romanesque church was declared a national monument in 1881 and has been declared a Cultural Heritage of National Interest.

The Santa Barbara church was built in 1757 for the Salesas Reales convent, founded in 1748 by Queen Barbara of Braganza, wife of Ferdinand VI of Spain (1746-1759). The church was designed by Francisco Carlier in collaboration with Francisco Moradillo. In 1870, the monastery was closed and the government used it as the Palace of Justice, now the Supreme Court. In 1891, the church became a parish church.

The church and convent of Santa Cecilia in Trastavere in Rome was built on the site of the home of St. Cecilia, a martyr of the 3rd century. Her mutilated body was found incorrupt in 1599; a statue under the altar depicts the way it was found. Excavations of Cecilia's Roman house can be explored underneath the church.

The Santa Clara convent complex dates back to the 18th century. After being closed during the 19th century, it was recovered by the Sisters of St. Clare in 1894. With the Spanish Civil War, the building burned down and was later used as a supply store. After the war, the complex was transformed into a war memorial.

Santa Coloma is one of the oldest churches in Andorra, built between the 8th and 9th centuries. The Romanesque building has an unusual circular bell tower from the 12th century. The nearby Espai Columba preserves the wall paintings of the apse of the church and various liturgical objects of the Andorran churches.

The Basilica of Santa Croce is a must-see monument in Florence. Built at the end of the thirteenth century by the Franciscans, it was at the center of the Florentine Renaissance in the 15th century, being the burial place of important personalities such as Michelangelo and Machiavelli.

The Monastery of the Holy Cross is an Augustinian monastery founded in the 12th century. Its Igreja de Santa Cruz is one of Portugal’s most important churches as it houses the royal tombs of Portugal's two first kings.

The Cathedral of Santa Giusta was completed in 1145, close to an earlier building from the 6th and 7th centuries. The main portal with its relief arch is similar to that of San Frediano in Lucca, but on the other hand, there are no other Tuscan examples of the idiosyncratic arrangement of the facades. The design of the façade and the choir is clearly inspired by Lombard models.