5 Hidden Chapels In Rome That Will Take Your Breath Away!

for most visitors to roam without a doubt a must-see is the Sistine Chapel at the Vatican and while that is probably the most famous and arguably the most beautiful Chapel in Rome in a city with nearly a thousand churches as you might imagine there are plenty more chapels you could see in this video I'm going to share with you five absolutely stunning chapels in Rome that most people have no idea even exist so you call these six spots just because you really have to know where they are but once you know where they are you can easily visit them and that is what I want to show you how to do in this video [Music] thank you I'm currently standing in front of the Basilica of Santi cuatro coronati which means the four crowned things if you get right up under the apps you can look straight up on the ceiling and you'll see a depiction of these four Saints carved in wood you can see from the structure of this church that it was at one time used as a fortress it was burnt in the sack of Rome in the year 1084. it was then rebuilt but much smaller and this is why the apps seems disproportionately large compared to the rest of the church in fact it's the only apps in Rome that encompasses all the names of the church including the side naves if the 1500s the church was given to the augustinian nuns and they still run it today now if you visit this church you are already seeing one of the most beautiful special churches in Rome that most people never get to see but the church actually has quite a few special spots that you can visit one is the beautiful Cloister inside another is the aulagotica I can't show you any pictures of that because no pictures are allowed but there is a chapel you can easily visit if you know where it is and how to visit it it's called The Chap of San Silvestro or the chapel of Saint Sylvester to visit this Chapel you have to know where it is you have to go into this little ante room and you'll see on the left wall that there is a foundling wheel so a foundling wheel was used to place unwanted babies inside and spin them around and then in theory they would be found the next morning by the nuns or priests where they were left obviously this is no longer in use but the wheel is still there and to the left of the wheel you're going to see a grate that is closed and to the right of the wheel there is a little button and you press the little button and eventually a nun will come to the window and you can talk to her just let her know you want to visit the chapel and she will ask you for an offering there is not a set amount I would suggest two to five euros per person in the 13th century this Chapel was completely covered in stunning frescoes that depict the life of Saint Sylvester those frescoes have been mostly restored and when you step inside you're seeing them in probably what were their original colors also note the floor which is done in the cosmati style or cosmates style this is a typical pattern you're going to see in a lot of churches in Rome it was designed by a family of that name the cosmari family who were expert Artisans at taking repurposed shards of beautiful colored marbles that were originally part of structures in the Roman Empire and turning them into these stunning designs that you see on the floors of many many churches in Rome including the Sistine Chapel Sylvester who became a saint was Pope in the early 4th Century which is the same time that Constantine was Emperor one of the most extraordinary things in this chapel and one of the things you should look for is the depiction of the Donation of Constantine in this famous scene the emperor Constantine is giving Rome and other regions of the West to the church this act was later proven to be false but by then the church had Consolidated its power [Music] the next Chapel I want to tell you about is here at the Vatican absolutely you should visit the Sistine Chapel when you visit Rome but there is another Chapel inside the Vatican that I want to tell you about like the Sistine Chapel the chapel that I want to tell you about is inside the Vatican Museums not inside St Peter's Basilica before this is teen Chapel became the Chapel of the Pope there was the nicoline chapel and it's named for Pope Nicholas V who had it built to be his personal Chapel when Pope Nicholas V had this Chapel made for him he assigned one of the Premier artists of the day to cover it in frescoes Angelico also known as Beto Angelico made some beautiful frescoes that are still visible in their vibrant colors today in this Chapel these are frescoes depict the two earliest Martyrs in the Catholic Church Saint Stephen and St Lawrence so how can you visit this stunning Chapel well it is not available on any normal tour of the Vatican Museum but you can book it as a special tour so you can either book it through the Vatican Museums or through a tour company that will take you on a special tour that includes this room Below in the description I've got a page about this with links to how you can book this is not an inexpensive tour arguably it would be the most expensive of the five chapels that I'm sharing with you on this video but it is really an amazing chapel and I wanted to share it with you so if you have the chance to go visit it I hope you will do so [Music] thank you I'm standing in front of the Basilica of Santa precede Saint praxettis who was a martyr Christian martyr along with her sister prudencia they were Daughters of the senator Prudence who was famously known as the first Christian convert of Saint Peter this Basilica is just a few steps away from Santa Maria majorette arguably one of the most beautiful basilicas in Rome but this Basilica is a little less known and it is equally as stunning for other reasons and what I want to show you today is the chapel that is just out of this world because this church is so incredible I am also going to show you a little bit of the church even though the focus today is on the chapel so let's head inside [Music] here you can see Pope Pascal the first himself the left hand side in the apps he has a square Nimbus which indicates that he was alive when this Mosaic was done by the way while you're in this church you might want to check out this little funerary Monument that was done by a very young teenaged John Lorenzo Bernini guys there was a lot I could tell you about this church it's really it's just so beautiful the floor is cosmetesque however it was redone in recent centuries so it's not the original cosmates floors it's still really beautiful there's a chapel in here and it is dedicated to Saint Xeno who was one of the Christian Martyrs and also to the mother of Pope Pascal the first who's the Pope that was responsible for this incredible Revival of this church and mosaics here and the chapel that we're about to see so let's go check it out now if we head over here to this Chapel the saint Xeno Chapel this is arguably one of the most stunning places you can visit in Rome in particular if you do enjoy Byzantine art so first of all the columns this marble this Granite is from Africa we can see the Byzantine mosaics already on the outside of the chapel here got a mix of saints and there's Santa Rosa of course and also Jesus Christ the chapel it's dark unless you pay to go in which we're going to do here in a second there's a group inside so it is worth paying to light up the chapel look at this floor it's the original it is just astounding so here we have Agnes Santa praxedes Santa pudencia and there's Theodora who is Pascal's mother and she also has a square Nimbus because she was alive at the time that this was made and here we have Christ descending into limbo unfortunately this was destroyed to make this door and you can see these columns here which are spolia that means they were rescued or revived from some other ancient Roman structure and there's this amazing column over here this is the flagellation column where Christ was said to be tied while he was flagellated awaiting his crucifixion [Music] foreign [Music] the next hidden Chapel that I want to show you is right here inside of this theater it's incredible it is a theater but inside there is a very special thing to see so let's go check it out okay so we are here in the chapel of Saint Catherine of Siena this is actually where she died in the year 1380. now she is buried in the Church of Santa Maria so prominerva she's actually under the main altar but you can come here and visit this space which is where she lived and died St Catherine was the patron saint of Italy together with Saint Francis of Assisi of course and this Chapel is a really special beautiful place and the funny thing is that it's actually inside of this theater so you have to know that it's here so you just go up to the front of this theater and come on in during the day obviously not while there's a show and ask them to see the chapel and they'll turn the lights on for you and it is a really special beautiful place and there are some other relics in this space also so it is free to visit this Chapel you don't have to pay anything you just ask them and they'll turn the lights on you just come on in [Music] foreign I feel like every time I want to make a video for you guys it is super windy so sorry for all the hair blowing around um so what is the Scala Santa or Scala sancta as it's called in Latin the Scala Santa means holy stairs this is the holy staircase that supposedly Jesus walked up to meet Pontius Pilate from Jerusalem these stairs were brought here from Jerusalem by the mother of emperor Constantine her name was Saint Helena and she gathered relics and she brought many of them here to Rome in the 4th Century the Scala Santa is a set of 28 marble steps that you can visit and you can actually climb them the only way to go up the Scala Santa the holy staircase is on your knees anybody can do this you do not have to be a Catholic you do not have to be a person of Faith you can visit the Scala Santa as long as you go up them on your knees it's a very spiritual thing in my opinion whether you're religious or not it's it's a beautiful and special thing to do in Rome now you can also visit this staircase but not climb it on your knees you can go up either side there's a staircase on either side you can come here to the holy staircase and whether you climb them on your knees or go up either of the side staircases normally you can reach the top to visit this amazing Chapel that most people have no idea exists so before the Sistine Chapel which was the private Chapel of Pope sixtus IV for whom it's named there was the nicoline chapel which we've talked about in this video and that was the chapel for Pope Nicholas V this Chapel was the very first papal Chapel ever and it's called the sancta sanctorum the holiest of holies so let's go take a look at the sancta sanctorum chabo it is amazing here we go foreign [Music] this image of Christ is considered to be extremely important it was begun by Saint Luke and actually finished not by human hands so supposedly finished by an Angel this wooden box here at the altar was placed here in the 9th century by Pope Leo III and it contains the relics of 13 Saints and subsequently more relics have been added to this Chapel this is why it's called the holiest of holies so on the ceiling you have before evangelists briscoes notice the columns between the Saints they are reminiscent of the columns from the Temple of Solomon in Jerusalem this type of Twisted column was found in the original Saint Peter's Basilica and in fact if you look at bernini's Bald Aquino which is the canopy in Saint Peter's Basilica today you'll see that he used the Twisted column style there you can see these beautiful frescoes these two in particular tell the stories of the first two Christian Saints Saint Stephen being stoned to death and St Lawrence being grilled so guys what did you think of those five amazing chapels that I've shared with you on today's video have you visited any of them do you think you'll visit any of them drop me a line in the comments below and for more unusual things to do and see in Rome check out my playlist right here

Channel: RomeWise

Views: 27,227

Keywords: romewise, things to do in rome, what to do in rome, rome travel guide, rome travel tips, what to do in rome that nobody knows, rome hidden gems, rome travel vlog, rome attractions, rome italy, rome wise, secret rome, rome church, romewise youtube, things to do in rome italy

Id: G-diw9m7kLk

Length: 15min 16sec (916 seconds)

Published: Sun May 28 2023