San Luigi dei Francesi
San Luigi dei Francesi, Catholic church building in Ponte district, Rome, Italy
The interior contains three naves with five side chapels, decorated with marble, gilded ornaments, and sculptures throughout the Renaissance building.
Cardinal Giulio de Medici, later Pope Clement VII, laid the foundation stone in 1518, with construction completed by Domenico Fontana in 1589.
The Contarelli Chapel holds three masterworks by Caravaggio depicting Saint Matthew, including The Calling of Saint Matthew and The Martyrdom of Saint Matthew.
The church opens daily for visitors near Piazza Navona, with coin-operated lights illuminating the Caravaggio paintings in the Contarelli Chapel.
Plautilla Bricci, a female architect and painter, designed the St Louis Chapel in 1664, incorporating blue stucco draperies and golden fleur-de-lis decorations.
Location: Rome
Inception: 1518
Architects: Domenico Fontana, Plautilla Bricci
Architectural style: Renaissance architecture
Length: 51 m
Width: 35 m
Address: Piazza di San Luigi De' Francesi 00186
Opening Hours: Monday-Friday 09:30-12:45,14:30-18:30; Saturday 09:30-12:15,14:30-18:30; Sunday 11:30-12:45,14:30-18:30
Phone: +3906688271
Email: contact@saintlouis-rome.net
Website: http://saintlouis-rome.net
GPS coordinates: 41.89958,12.47467
Latest update: May 28, 2025 18:16
Rome contains over 900 churches that demonstrate two thousand years of sacred architecture, from Roman antiquity to the Baroque period. These buildings reveal the evolution of construction techniques and artistic expressions over the centuries. St. Peter's Basilica covers 20,000 square meters and features a dome designed by Michelangelo. The Pantheon retains its Roman dome with a 43-meter (141 feet) diameter, the largest ever constructed in unreinforced concrete. Major basilicas such as Santa Maria Maggiore showcase Byzantine mosaics from the 5th century beneath a Renaissance ceiling with gilded coffers. Saint Clement's Basilica in the Lateran overlays three levels of construction from the 1st to the 12th centuries, illustrating Rome's urban stratification. Santa Maria in Trastevere, one of the city's oldest churches, presents medieval gilded mosaics, while Saint Peter's in Chains houses Michelangelo's Moses. These monuments help understand how Rome shaped European religious architecture for over fifteen centuries.
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