Sant'Ignazio di Loyola

Piazza Sant'Ignazio. (Open Map)
(75)

Description

The church of Sant'Ignazio di Loyola was built on a drawing by the Jesuit mathematician Orazio Grassi, on the basis of projects by Carlo Maderno and others, and to the expense of Cardinal Ludovico Ludovisi, nephew of Gregorio XV’s. 

The dominating façade, which derives from the one of the Chiesa del Gesù, embodies two orders of pilaster strips and corinthian columns, with frames, frontispiece and side volutes standing out. It is enriched by big windows, niches and tablets, and it is generally attributed to Alessandro Algardi. 

The interior, embodying a Latin cross, has three intercommunicating chapels per side. The polychromy of the marbles, stuccoes, the pittorical decoration and the altars’ richness make the ensemble incredibly sumptuous. The roof’s decorations of the grandiose vault of the nave are by Andrea Pozzo, brother belonging to the Ordine Gesuitico, and they represent the "Ingresso di Sant'Ignazio in Paradiso".