The first sponsor of the arts since the middle ages to the 18 th century in Rome has been the Catholic Church. The churches beautify Rome are not only some of the most important churches for the Catholics but also some of the most beautiful art treasures of the world.
The Romanesque took its inspiration and rounded arches from ancient Rome (hence the name). The first major churches in Rome were built on the basilica plan of Roman law courts. Architects constructed large churches with wide aisles to accommodate the masses who came to hear the priests say Mass but who were largely there to worship at the altars of various saints. To support the weight of all that masonry, the walls had to be thick and solid (meaning they could be pierced by few and rather small windows) and supported by huge piers, giving Romanesque churches a dark, somber, mysterious, and often oppressive feeling.
By the late 12th century, the development of the pointed arch and exterior flying buttress freed architecture from the heavy, thick walls of Romanesque structures and allowed ceilings to soar, walls to thin, and windows to proliferate in the Gothic style, although there's only one surviving example in Rome.
The great early basilicas, each at least partly altered in decor over the ages, include Santa Maria Maggiore, San Giovanni in Laterano, and San Paolo Fuori le Mure. Other less grand Romanesque churches include Santa Maria in Cosmedin and Santa Sabina.
Santa Maria Sopra Minerva is Rome's only Gothic church, all pointy arches and soaring ceilings. (Although, hemmed in by other buildings, it has an atypically dark Gothic interior.)
Read on about the Baroque and Rennasiance art movements in the page I dedicate to those tours.
