The Church of Santa Maria della Pace is one of the most beautiful churches of Rome, especially when you want to throw a look on the Renaissance of the city. Sort above the dilapidated church called "Sant'andrea Acquarenaeris", by those that brought water from the nearby Tiber river to clean and making it pure, the church was completely restored under the direction of Pope Sixtus IV, although he never saw the end of the site construction.

A Pope, this Sixtus IV, that bind his name to the Sistine Chapel, the building that will be completely revolutionized under his pontificate. Sixtus IV, however, was a very active pontiff, in a politically way, as was customary in that era. Let us never forget the political dimension that the Pontiff had, being at the head of not only a religion, but also of a true and proper State. For this reason, the name "Peace" derives from the Peace of Bagnolo, which, at the end of the XV century, marked the end of a political and military diatribe between the State of the Church, the Republic of Venice, and the Kingdom of Naples. Baccio Pontelli, the favourite architect of Pope Sixtus IV, projected the church by following some of the suggestions expressed by the pontiff, who all wanted to keep an eye as it regarded the urban interventions that, for Sixtus IV, had to be Rome as modern and functional.

But other protagonists of the early Renaissance, in addition to Baccio Pontelli, worked here leaving something of their souls and styles. For example Bramante, and its world-famous cloister, which will become a model for all those later. Or Raphael and its chapel, the Chigi one, the first on the right after the original XV century portal. It was Agostino Chigi, a great patron for Raphael, who asked to the master to make another chapel dedicated to his family, after the one located in Santa Maria del Popolo (to read more about the important historical figure of Agostino Chigi click here). And Raphael displayed his art especially in the paintings, in those elegant Sibyls, placed above the arch with the Prophets.

But you should also see the first chapel on the left inside the magnificent Church of the Peace and Beauty (Chiesa di Santa Maria della Pace in Italian). It is the Ponzetti chapel, with the project and the frescoes designed by Baldassarre Peruzzi, another protagonist of the early roman XVI century. But there are also archaeological surprises, such as the marble of the Chapel Mignanelli (second left) that comes from the ruins of the Temple of Jupiter Capitolinus, of which today remains very little (even if it was a very important monumento of the ancient Rome, as you can read here). In short, a compendium of art and beauty is completed by the tribune and the magnificent dome of the mould century, which makes this church one of the most beautiful of the roman Renaissance, and not only!