San Giovanni a Porta Latina

One of Rome's most secret and extraordinary churches — a 5th-century basilica (rebuilt in the 12th century) on the ancient Via Latina inside the Aurelian Walls, almost never visited by tourists. Its entire interior — apse, nave walls, chancel arch, columns — is covered in a complete cycle of 46 biblical fresco panels from around 1191 AD, spanning the Old and New Testaments from Genesis to the Book of Revelation. These are the most intact Romanesque fresco cycles in Rome: rich ochres, blues, and greens, slightly naive in style but deeply expressive. The church sits in a perfectly preserved medieval courtyard with a cedar of Lebanon said to be 1,000 years old. An oasis of complete quiet beside the busy Via Appia ring road. Recommended by Catholic Culture, Rome Actually, and multiple travel forums as a "revelation."