Tempietto di Bramante & Chiesa di San Pietro

Lonely Planet review

Considered the first great building of the High Renaissance, Bramante's proportionally perfect Tempietto (little temple) stands in the courtyard of the Chiesa di San Pietro in Montorio, on the spot where St Peter is supposed to have been crucified. Completed in 1508, Bramante's temple is a much-imitated masterpiece of classical proportion and elegance, its circular design based on the style used in many Roman temples.

The use of Doric columns in the peristyle is a noteworthy feature, bucking the 16th-century fashion for Ionic and Corinthian columns - Bramante is said to have used Doric columns to better represent St Peter's masculine strength. More than a century later, in 1628, Bernini added a staircase. Bernini also contributed a chapel, the second on the left, to the neighbouring church, the last resting place of the tragic Beatrice Cenci.