Italy
15 Best Religious Sites in Italy
The temples, churches and sacred sites travelers rate highest across Italy, with what makes each worth the trip.
Order reflects review volume from real travelers in Italy. Refreshed monthly.
Duomo di Milano
Religious site · MilanThe Duomo di Milano, or Milan Cathedral, is a masterpiece of Gothic architecture and one of the largest churches in the world.
Read our full guide →Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore
Religious site · FlorenceFree entryThe Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore, commonly called the Duomo, is the heart of Florence's religious and architectural heritage.
Read our full guide →Milan Cathedral
Religious site · MilanMilan Cathedral, the Duomo di Milano, is the cathedral church of Milan and the seat of its archbishop.
Read our full guide →Basilica of Santa Croce in Florence
Religious site · FlorenceThe Basilica of Santa Croce is one of Florence's most important churches, located in the Piazza Santa Croce.
Read our full guide →Florence Cathedral
Religious site · FlorenceThe Florence Cathedral, officially the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore, is the city's most recognizable landmark.
Read our full guide →Saint Mark's Basilica
Religious site · VeniceFree entrySaint Mark's Basilica is the cathedral church of Venice and a masterpiece of Italo-Byzantine architecture. Located in the heart of Piazza San Marco, it is one of the most recognizable symbols of the city.
Read our full guide →Basilica di Santa Maria delle Grazie
Religious site · MilanFree entryBasilica di Santa Maria delle Grazie is a renowned religious site in Milan, best known for housing Leonardo da Vinci's masterpiece 'The Last Supper' in its refectory.
Read our full guide →Santa Maria in Ara Coeli
Religious site · RomeSanta Maria in Ara Coeli is a Franciscan basilica on the highest summit of the Capitoline Hill in Rome.
Read our full guide →Baptistery of St. John
Religious site · FlorenceThe Baptistery of St. John is one of Florence's oldest and most revered religious structures, located in Piazza del Duomo opposite the cathedral.
Read our full guide →Santa Croce, Florence
Religious site · FlorenceSanta Croce is a Franciscan minor basilica in Florence, located on Piazza di Santa Croce, about 800 meters southeast of the Duomo on former marshland beyond the old city walls.
Read our full guide →Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari
Religious site · VeniceThe Basilica di Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari, often called the Frari, is a large brick church in the San Polo district of Venice.
Read our full guide →San Giorgio Maggiore (church), Venice
Religious site · VeniceSan Giorgio Maggiore is a 16th-century Benedictine church on the island of the same name in Venice.
Read our full guide →Sant'Ignazio, Rome
Religious site · RomeSant'Ignazio is a Baroque church in Rome dedicated to Ignatius of Loyola, founder of the Jesuits.
Read our full guide →Santa Maria delle Grazie, Milan
Religious site · MilanSanta Maria delle Grazie is a stunning Renaissance church and Dominican convent in Milan, best known as the home of Leonardo da Vinci's 'The Last Supper'.
Read our full guide →Scuola Grande di San Rocco
Religious site · VeniceThe Scuola Grande di San Rocco is a guild house in Venice known for its collection of paintings by Tintoretto, widely considered some of his finest work.
Read our full guide →
Good to know
What is the best-known of the temples, churches and sacred sites in Italy?
Duomo di Milano in Milan is the most reviewed, with 203,657 traveler reviews and a 4.8 rating. That makes it the safe choice if you are only fitting in one.
Which of Italy's temples, churches and sacred sites is worth going out of your way for?
Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore in Florence rates highest at 4.8 out of 5 across 109,538 reviews. Smaller crowds than the headline entry usually explain the gap.
Which city in Italy has the most temples, churches and sacred sites?
Florence, with 5 on this list, ahead of Milan on 4. The list spans 4 cities in total, capped at three per city so one big city cannot crowd out the rest of the country.
Are any of these temples, churches and sacred sites free to visit?
Yes, 3: Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore, Saint Mark's Basilica, Basilica di Santa Maria delle Grazie. That is based on each place's own visiting information, not an assumption about the category.
How is this list of temples, churches and sacred sites ranked?
By how many travelers reviewed each place, filtered to those rated well enough to be worth your time, drawn from 1,912 tracked places in Italy. No one pays to appear on it, and the order is refreshed monthly as new reviews land.
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