Church of Santa Maria del Popolo

In Italian, populus means poplar. The chapel that preceded the temple was built near the poplar, hence the name. The current church building was built in 1472-1477, under Alexander VII, the interior was significantly updated by Bernini.

The greatest interest from an artistic point of view are the five chapels of the church, built as family tombs of the Roman nobility, as well as church dignitaries. The author of the project of the Kigi Chapel was the famous artist Raphael, who performed this work for his patron Agostino Chigi. The mosaic decor of the chapel was created by Raphael, paintings in the altar space by Sebastiano del Piombo.

In the chapel of Cerazi there are paintings of the hand of Caravaggio and other early Baroque masters. It is worth noting that created Caravaggio canvases with plots from the life of St. Paul. Petra are among the outstanding works of Italian painting of the XVII century.