In the Sant’Eustachio district a short distance from Piazza Navona there is a masterpiece of sacred architecture that in a city like Rome, home to the Vatican and hundreds of monumental churches and basilicas, risks going unnoticed: the basilica of Sant’Andrea della Valle. The Basilica is famous above all for its dome. The dome is in fact the third largest in Rome with a diameter of 16 meters and 80 meters high, made by Carlo Maderno. It is very bright because of the series of windows interspersed with eight semi-columns. The dome was frescoed by Giovanni Lanfranco between 1621 and 1625 in collaboration – or in competition – with Domenichino. The dome represents the Glory of Paradise with the Four Evangelists at the ends.
