San Vitale

I'm to page 71 in the Lucentini Rome Guide and he does a "detour" near the Quirinal to San Vitale, which is down the steps from Via Nazionale, the cross street of our apartment on Via Napoli.  San Vitale is a church from the 400s and that is why it is below street level.  It was remodeled several times in the Middle Ages and has "magnificent wooden doors" designed by Jesuit priests in the 17th century.  "The church evokes the missionary fervor of the era through gruesome paintings of martyrdom, meant to prepare young priests for the perils of their vocation.  Moreover, only plants and insects symbolising martyrdom in Christian iconography were allowed to grow in the vast gardens of the church, which were destroyed to build Via Nazionale...Inside, 17th century frescoes and paintings mostly depict atrocious scenes of torture, such as a soldier covered with homey and exposed to the insects.."

OK, Penny, you don't need to visit this church.  We'll check it out before you get there.  It doesn't have the beautiful Byzantine Mosaics that the San Vitale in Ravenna does.