Tucked behind the Pantheon on a quiet piazza, the Basilica of Santa Maria sopra Minerva is Rome's only Gothic church — a fact that feels almost subversive in a city so thoroughly dominated by Baroque. Built by Dominican friars in the late 13th century over the ruins of a temple to Minerva, the interior opens up into a soaring nave of deep blue vaulted ceilings studded with gold stars, a dramatic departure from everything else on the Roman skyline. It's the kind of place that catches first-time visitors completely off guard, and that contrast is half the pleasure of coming here.
Religious Place