Santa Maria in Ara Coeli

Santa Maria in Ara Coeli is a Franciscan basilica on the highest summit of the Capitoline Hill in Rome. It was the headquarters of the Franciscan General Curia from 1250 to 1798 and remains the designated church of the city council. Inside, you see Roman columns scavenged from ancient ruins, a gilded wooden ceiling, and a cosmatesque floor.

Don't miss

• Pinturicchio’s 15th-century frescoes of Saint Bernardino of Siena in the Bufalini Chapel
• The wooden ceiling, gilded and painted in 1575 to thank the Virgin for the victory at Lepanto
• The Byzantine icon Madonna Aracoeli (Our Lady of the Golden Hands) on the high altar, pontifically crowned in 1636
• The Santo Bambino of Aracoeli, a 15th-century olive-wood statue from the Garden of Gethsemane (a copy is on display after the original was stolen in 1994)
• Relics of Helena, mother of Emperor Constantine, and the tablet with the monogram of Jesus used by Saint Bernardino of Siena

Tickets & tours

Ways to visit Santa Maria in Ara Coeli

Cheapest way inBasilica Santa Maria Maggiore : Guided Tour or Audio Guide4.2★ · 10 travelers1-2 hoursFree cancellationFrom$23 per personSee dates →Most bookedExplore Rome on a Golf Cart: Private Tour4.8★ · 904 travelers~3 hoursFree cancellationFrom$47 per personSee dates →Private & flexibleThe Holy Doors Experience: Papal Basilicas & Seamless Transfer4.3★ · 14 travelers~3 hoursFree cancellationFrom$100 per personSee dates →

Getting there

Know before you go

• The church is reached by a monumental stairway of 124 steps, designed in 1348.
• The basilica is built as a nave and two aisles divided by Roman columns taken from diverse antique monuments, no two alike.
• At midnight Mass on Christmas Eve, the Santo Bambino statue is unveiled before the high altar and remains in the Nativity crib until Epiphany.

A bit of history

The church stands on the Arx, the northern peak of the Capitoline Hill, the site of the ancient Temple of Juno Moneta. Its foundation was laid on a Byzantine abbey mentioned in 574. A medieval legend claims it was built over an Augustan altar where the Tiburtine Sibyl prophesied Christ’s coming to Augustus. In 1341, Petrarch was proclaimed poet laureate here. In 1571, it hosted celebrations for Marcantonio Colonna after the Battle of Lepanto. During the French occupation in 1797, it was deconsecrated and turned into a stable.