Santa Maria in Trastevere

Tradition says it was one of the first places of Christian worship in Rome, in the 3rd century. The present church dates from the 12th century and reuses 22 granite columns taken from Roman buildings, some still topped with mismatched capitals.

The apse mosaics, with Christ and the Virgin seated on the same throne, are 12th-century, and below them are six scenes from the life of Mary by Pietro Cavallini, from the late 13th century. The façade has another golden frieze with ten women carrying lamps.