Basilica of Santa Maria in AracoeliBasilica di Santa Maria in Aracoeli

Basilica of Santa Maria in Aracoeli stands atop the Capitoline Hill, where Rome’s civic authority long intertwined with ritual, above remains linked to the ancient temple of Juno Moneta. A church has existed here since the 6th c., but the Franciscans reshaped it in the 13th c., pairing a stark Romanesque nave with a famously steep stairway. Inside, a Lepanto ceiling (1571) proclaims papal triumph, while Cavallini’s late 13th c. frescoes, Pinturicchio’s Bufalini Chapel (1484–86), and the venerated Madonna Aracoeli and Santo Bambino sustain living devotion.,