Pilgrimage to Rome: Part V

This is my fifth installment sharing the experiences I gained in my pilgrimage to Rome this year.  I hope you are enjoying these posts and that it is worth the time to post these images.  Please post a quick comment if you are enjoying these so I know that it is worth continuing.

This 5th installment features a number of different churches in Rome.

The first place of pilgrimage in this edition of my Pilgrimage to Rome post series is the Church of San Luigi dei Francesi. This Church is the French Church in Rome.  The church is dedicated to the Virgin Mary, to St. Denis the Areopagite and St. Louis IX, king of France.  The church's most famous treasure is Caravaggio's works on the life of St. Matthew. This include the three world-renowned canvases of The Calling of St Matthew (on the left wall), The Inspiration of Saint Matthew (above the altar), The Martyrdom of Saint Matthew (on the right wall).

Next is the Church of Santa Maria in Cosmedin, which was built in the 8th Century.  The church offers the Greek-Melkite Rite.  On the outside of the Church is the famous La Bocca della Verità (Mouth of Truth), but equally important inside is the skull of St Valentine.

Santa Maria in Traspontina features beautiful one chapel inside which contains the two columns to which Peter and Paul were said to have been bound prior to their martyrdom in the circus of Nero nearby.  This is a Carmelite Church, as can be seen by the Devotion to Our Lady of Mt. Carmel.

Santa Maria in Trastevere is one of the oldest churches in Rome.  The basic floor plan dates back to the 340s, and the first sanctuary was built by Pope Callixtus I in 221.  The Church has many important mosaics.

Church of St. Agnes (Sant'Agnese in Agone) is a massive structure from the outside and inside has some of the most beautiful ceiling work I have seen in my travels.  The Church features the important relic of the young virgin martyr, St. Agnes - it contains her skull.