Sacred Spaces in Rome

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

One of Catholicism's four major basilicas has a series of papal portraits that are said to predict the end of the world.

More sculpture than building, this architecturally significant temple was built on the spot of Saint Peter's crucifixion.

Installed in an act of one-upsmanship, the annual sundial in this church is also a symbolic victory for the Gregorian calendar.

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

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

Stone memorial that's said to predict the death of the pope and the site of the Cadaver Synod.

An alchemist's "magic door" stands in the middle of a Roman park.

Rome's semi-secret peephole vista is also a former Crusader stronghold.

The underground sanctuary of a mysterious ancient cult.