★★★★★ 5.0
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Chiesa di Sant'Ignazio di Loyola
The year is 1642, and the builders here in Piazza Sant'Ignazio just ran out of money. So they hired an artist named Andrea Pozzo to paint a fake dome on canvas instead of building a real one! It's seventeen meters tall—that's like stacking three giraffes on top of each other! This church replaced an ancient Temple of Isis, and when it was finished in 1650, it took up a whole quarter of the city block. Look down—there's a magic mirror on the floor so you can see the ceiling trick without hurting your neck!
Did You Know?
- Chiesa di Sant'Ignazio di Loyola is home to one of the most famous optical illusions in Rome: Andrea Pozzo’s breathtaking frescoed ceiling, which creates the convincing illusion of a soaring dome where none exists—a masterful trompe l’oeil known as the 'fake dome.' This ingenious solution was devised when the Jesuits ran out of funds to build a real dome, so Pozzo painted a false one instead; visitors can even see the illusion best by standing on a special marker in the nave floor.
- The church is not only a masterpiece of Baroque art but also a living monument to Jesuit education and global missionary work. It was built as the chapel for the Collegio Romano, the precursor to the Pontifical Gregorian University, and served thousands of students from around the world, reflecting the Jesuits’ early commitment to international education and scholarship.
- Beneath the church’s stunning artworks lie the tombs of three Jesuit saints—Aloysius Gonzaga, Robert Bellarmino, and John Berchmans—making it a significant pilgrimage site. Families and children can enjoy a fun, interactive experience by searching for the hidden mirror inside the church, which allows visitors to take selfies with Pozzo’s ceiling frescoes in the background, blending art, history, and modern technology in a memorable way.