Basilica di Sant'Andrea della Valle
Mon–Fri: 09:00-20:00Sat: 12:00-20:00Sun: 09:00-20:00
Free
45min
The setting of Act I of Puccini's opera Tosca.
Corso Vittorio Emanuele II, 00186 Roma RM, Italy
Home to the second-largest dome in Rome — designed by Carlo Maderno and surpassed in size only by St. Peter's. The interior is a textbook Baroque masterpiece, with frescoes by Lanfranco in the dome and Domenichino in the apse showing Saint Andrew's life. The mother church of the Theatine Order, founded in 1591. Famously, this is where Act I of Puccini's opera Tosca takes place — Floria Tosca confronts her lover Cavaradossi in the Attavanti Chapel. Free entry; remarkably uncrowded for its quality.