Our aimless wandering took us south of Corso Vittorio Emanuele II, the main east-west
thoroughfare in the area, toward the Campo de'Fiori. The Campo de'Fiori is a square with a
picturesque outdoor market. But only in the mornings - in the evenings, it's just a big,
empty square. But some of the nearby shops displayed some appetizing wares. We managed to
resist them, as dinnertime was approaching.
Pastries
Fruit Pastries
Nella and Gigantic Mortadella
Back on the Corso we happened upon a large church we had not yet explored, called the
Sant'Andrea della Valle church.
Sant'Andrea della Valle Church
The Sant'Andrea della Valle church was built from 1590-1650 by the Theatines, an order dedicated
to combating Protestantism through an austere lifestyle. The church was named for St. Andrew,
as the land for the church was donated to the order by the Duchess of Amalfi, and St. Andrew is
Amalfi's patron saint. The final plan for the church was the work of Carlo Maderno. The church
has a dome which is the third largest in Rome, after the Pantheon and St. Peter's Basilica. The
church is extensively decorated and has many side chapels. It is also the resting place of Pope
Pius II and Pope Pius III.
When we'd gone out for a walk, we did so without much in the way of plans for photography, so we
didn't have our best cameras with us. The following pictures were taken with a small
point-and-shoot and a standard-def Flip Video camera, so the quality may not be as good as some
of the others on this site. But they should convey the general idea.
Church Overview
Nella, Main Altar and Ginnetti Chapel
Ginnetti Chapel, Carlo Fontana (1670)
Dome, Strozzi Chapel
Church Ceiling
Ceiling and Windows
Ginnetti Chapel, Organ and Church Interior
Chapel of St. Cajetan (Founder of Theatines)
Chapel of St. Cajetan
Chapel, Main Altar and Tomb of St. G. Tomasi
Tomb of Cardinal St. Giuseppe Maria Tomasi
Main Altar, Alessandro Algardi (1650-51)
Frescoes Above Main Altar, Domenichino
Nella and Chapel Barberini
After we'd finished looking around the church, we returned to the apartment to cook
ourselves some dinner and to rest up for our final day in Rome, which we would be spending
in the world's center of Catholicism: Vatican City.