Church Hopping!

So after the Roman Forum, we just walked around to see what we could see, and ended up going to a lot of really neat places. I made us go in every church we passed. Some were marked on my map as really big/important ones, and others were smaller but still really beautiful. I think this one is
Santa Maria di Loreto.
I'm sitting on some big carved stone outside of the Colonna Traianei. This area of Rome was so neat because parts of the ruins are just sitting around in little parks and piazzas.










The inside of Santa Maria di Loreto. It has a beautiful dome which I have a picture of.












This is SS. Nome di Maria. It was closed unfortunately, so I didnt get to go inside.

















This is Chiesa del Gesu was absolutely beautiful!!!

The inside of Gesu. It had beautiful marble statues at the side altars. I loved the confessional booths too! About ten lined the sides, and the priest would sit facing out with a little widow open so you could see him. Then when you knelt next to it, he'd close the window and a little red light would turn on. It was almost like fast-food confessions. Really cute.

The ceiling of Gesu. Absolutely amazing, this picture does not do it justice. They even had a mirror sent up on the floor at an angle so that you could look into and see the ceiling straight in front of you.

This is Maria Sopra Minerva. In front is a Bernini elephant obelisk. The church was really unsuspecting from the outside but incredible on the inside. My picture of the inside is a little dark so I didnt post it. But the ceiling was navy blue with gold stars. Sooo pretty.

The body of St. Catherine Siena is buried in this church under the altar.

The PANTHEON! Stephanie, Me and Jen in front. Its soo big! We're coming here for mass on Sunday for Pentecost! I guess now that its not a pagan temple the official church name is the Basilica di Santa Maria ad Martyres.

The dome of the pantheon. FYI the hole is 27 feet across! Even from the inside it doesnt look that big!

The inside of the pantheon.

This is Saint Ignazio di Loyola. It was tucked away in the back streets on this tiny alley and all of the sudden you come across this really cute piazza and huge awesome church.

The inside. The "dome" is actually just a painting. It looks like a dome, but is completely flat. Really weird. I have a picture but I didnt put it up.

The ceiling. Soooo pretty.

Bascilica di Eustachio. Small and beautiful, but my picture came out dark. Apparently the two cafes across the street have the best cappaccino in Rome.

San Luigi di Francesi. It was closed too. boo. Apparently they have english mass though, so we might go back there.

Sant Agnese in Piazza Navona. It was actually really small inside compared to what it looks like from the outside. I guess its connected with another building.

The inside of Agnese.

Sant Maria dell Anima. It was a German church! Beautiful but my picture was too dark.

I forget the name of this one! I'll find out...

There were monks just about to start mass.

San Maria della Pace. We couldnt figure out how to get inside. It was beautiful though! Another one tucked in an alley somewhere.

Beautiful view of the Vatican from the brige Ponte Umberto.