The Chiesa Santa Andrea al Quirinale totally took my breath away. This small church was designed by Bernini and then his talented pupil, Mario Pozzo, took over. The exterior is very simple and it is very easy to pass by this church neglecting going inside it. Nothing prepares you to the picture perfect oval of the opulent interior with Bernini’s charming cherubs statues, lavishly decorated gilded dome and elaborate pattern of the marble inlaid floor. This little church stole my heart... The opening hours are tricky, so it makes perfect sense to confirm just before your visit.

This beautiful church was designed by Gian Lorenzo Bernini, who considered it his best work for the perfect balance between architecture, sculpture and painting. Preceded by a semicircular staircase and a very elegant curvilinear porch supported by two columns, the simple single-order façade façade is framed by pilasters and crowned by a tympanum, decorated with the great coat of arms of Cardinal Pamphilj, who financed its construction, and by a festoon of garlands of roses symbolizing martyrdom. Adorned with rare polychrome marble, stucco and gilding, the interior has an oval plan with the major axis perpendicular to the entrance one. The radial chapels are set back in order to go on, without interrupting, with the continuous rhythm of the oval and the impression of great spatial breadth. The stupemdous dome with lantern, decorated with gilded coffers and large stucco figures lying on the window frames, generates a multiplicity of light sources which, depending on the time of day, determine suggestive lighting effects. There are many valuable works: the main chapel is splendid with an altar in gilded bronze and lapis lazuli, designed by Bernini himself and adorned with a golden sunburst with angels and cherubs by Antonio Raggi. In the center there is a canvas with the depiction of the "Martyrdom of Saint Andrew", a work by Jacques Courtois known as Il Borgognone. The first chapel on the right, dedicated to St Francis Xavier, houses three paintings by Giovanni Battista Galli, known as Baciccia. Noteworthy is the Sacrity with its altarpiece depicting the Immaculate Conception by Andrea Pozzo, the same Jesuit artist who did the famous ceiling at the church of Sant' Ignazio, and the magnificent frescoed ceiling vault with 'The Apotheosis of St Andrew' by Giovanni De Brosse. A masterpiece. Highly recommended.