Santo Stefano Rotondo

An unusual 5th-century circular church on the Caelian Hill — one of the earliest centrally-planned Christian churches and the model for several later round churches. The interior walls are covered with 16th-century frescoes of 34 graphic scenes of Christian martyrdom, commissioned to inspire Jesuit missionaries heading to dangerous mission fields (the Hungarians took possession of the church in the 16th century, hence the Hungarian saint dedications). Genuinely disturbing imagery — not for sensitive children. The Hungarian national church in Rome.