Santa Cecilia in Trastevere

A Roman girl who was martyred at the age of 14 lived in the house where the 9th-century church now stands, and it is worth visiting for a number of reasons. Despite not having much-written evidence, Saint Cecilia was one of the most revered early virgin martyrs of Rome. She is one of the seven women commemorated by name in the Roman Canon.

Pietro Cavallini, a precursor of Giotto, created the outstanding fresco of The Last Judgement in the 13th century, and Maderno's stunning sculpture of St. Cecelia was based on the saint's incorrupt body that was exhumed in the 16th century. The foundations of a Roman house and a beautiful medieval sacristy with a secret are found beneath the church, which also has some lovely mosaics. However, the sacristy isn't actually from the Middle Ages; rather, it was built in the 19th century in an effort to recreate some of the beauty of medieval works that had been lost in Rome.