Santa Cecilia in Trastevere

This guide to Santa Cecilia in Trastevere in Rome follows the 1599 discovery of a sealed marble sarcophagus during renovations, and the sculptor Stefano Maderno's commission to record exactly what was found inside. It traces the legend of Cecilia, a Roman noblewoman martyred in the third century, and Pope Paschal I's ninth-century rebuilding of the church, whose gold mosaic still glows in the apse. Look for the marble figure lying at the base of the altar.