Relics in Rome

Discover 9 unusual relics in Rome.

Portraits of the saints.

Basilica of San Crisogono

Remnants of a 4th-century church with vivid medieval frescoes and ancient sarcophagi hide beneath this old basilica.

Saint Victoria's Incorruptible Body.

Saint Victoria's Incorruptible Body

The martyr's wax-enhanced skeletal remains lie preserved in a glass case in the Santa Maria della Vittoria in Rome.

Anna Maria Taigi

The Wax-Encased Remains of Blessed Anna Maria Taigi

The mystic whose incorrupt corpse still attracts the faithful.

The church sits just outside the Vatican on the grounds of the Russian Embassy.

Saint Catherine Russian Orthodox Church

The first Russian Orthodox church in the Catholic city of Rome in almost a thousand years.

Santa Maria dell'Orazione e Morte

At the crypt of St. Mary of Eulogies and the Dead you are left alone to ponder mortality among piles of skulls.

Heart Ex Votos

Papal Hearts at Santi Vincenzo e Anastasio a Trevi

This former Roman Catholic Church still contains the embalmed hearts and organs of 22 popes.

John the Baptist relic

The Head of St. John the Baptist at San Silvestro in Capite

One of several skulls claiming to belong to the beheaded St. John the Baptist is on display at this Roman church.

St. Francesca Romana

Santa Francesca Romana

St. Francesca Romana, patron saint of drivers, resides in the church she founded.

St. Valentine's Skull

The skull of the patron saint of lovers lies in the Basilica di Santa Maria in Cosmedin—maybe.

Are we missing something unusual in Rome?