This Jesuit church dedicated to the founder of the order, St. Ignatius of Loyola, was begun in 1626. It was the first church Dave and I visited in Rome, and when we stepped inside, we turned to each other and said, "Wow! I wonder what St. Peter's is going to be like."

We wouldn't even have visited had it not been only steps from our hotel (Albergo Cesari) and an hour before our dinner reservation. I am so glad we went and recommend all do the same. The chapels are each touching and memorable in unique ways, especially the 19th-century Chapel of the Crucifixion, on the left hand side, the altar piece of which contains lots of little glass boxes filled with bones and relics.

But it is the ceiling that will mesmerize you. Upon entering the church, you'll see the colorful trompe l'oeil perspective fresco of Andrea Pozzo, entitled "Apotheosis of St. Ignatius," which he executed between 1691 and 1694. In it, all sorts of saintly and holy figures are turned up toward St. Ignatius, as he receives the word of God from Christ and then sends it down to earth. The architectural colonades and arches upon which these figures rest are all rendered to be viewed from a specific disk on the floor which Pozzo himself placed. Also from this disk, you must look up at the tromp l'oeil cupola fresco, which Pozzo painted to mimic a highly decorative and deep dome with windows. My pictures certainly don't do these features justice, but you can get an idea of the perspective issues from them, at least.

I'm not much for monuments, but with an architect friend as my guide, I was blown away by this church. Its ceiling was painted at the height of Renaissance trompe-l'oeil, and you have to pay very close attention to get its full effect. The tourists around us seemed to get this information from their guidebooks, but I just followed my friend's lead. Looking up from the entrance, it seems as if the ceiling is vaulted upwards, but as you pass from perspective point to perspective point, you realize that it's all an illusion! Just follow the gold circles on the floor--placed there by the painter himself to guide his audience--and look up at each point. Notice also the extra pieces of fabric in the corners that make it look as if the painted bodies themselves inhabit the space.