Chiesa di Santa Maria in Aracoeli

Lonely Planet review

Standing at the highest point of the Capitoline Hill, this 7th-century church offers a refuge from the crowds outside, a 15th-century fresco by Pinturicchio and, most famously, a statue of the baby Jesus. It's built on the site where legend says the Tiburtine Sybil told Caesar Augustus of the coming birth of Christ, and is very lively around Christmas.

Until the mid-1990s the church was home to a much-loved statue of Jesus, said to have been carved of wood from the garden of Gethsemane and to have had healing powers. However, in 1994, it was stolen and had to be replaced by a copy; fortunately the replica is as venerated as the original. A Christmas procession of Romany people delivers him to his crèche each year.

On a less holy note (although some might disagree) Italy's paparazzi had a field day when Rome's football superstar Francesco Totti led his young bride down the dramatic 14th-century staircase that connects Piazza d'Aracoeli with the Chiesa di Santa Maria in Aracoeli.