Chiesa di S Ignazio: A trompe d'oeil

The Church of Saint Ignazio is near the Pantheon. It is huge. Seriously, I have no idea how to convey how enormous this church is. You can kind of get the idea if you look a the picture to the right and see the tiny little people outside the front doors.












The picture to the left below is a shot down the main aisle of the church from the back to the altar. The picture to the right below is a shot down the right-hand side of the church through the various chapels that line the outside edge.












The picture to the right below is a shot of one of the ceiling panels.
























These two shots are of the church's organ, which is also very large. When I visited the church a wedding had ended earlier. I didn't see any of the wedding party, but a janitor was cleaning up rice and rose petals from the front steps and the wedding flowers were still near the altar. Also, the organist was still playing. It was a nice background to visiting the church.










Here is the one thing I just don't understand about this church. The dome pictured to the right is a trompe d'oeil. There are other (real) domes in the chapels along the outside walls, but this center "dome" above the altar, is a fake. I don't know why this is the case - it can't be money because the church church is lavish in every other respect.