It was my last day in Rome. I had a little time before checking out, so I took a taxi to the Church of the Gesù for a quick visit.
I’d heard about its famous ceiling fresco and really wanted to see it before leaving Rome. I didn’t have much time, but I’m so glad I went.
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From the outside, the church looked fairly simple compared with the grand basilicas I’d visited earlier in Rome. But the moment I stepped inside, the atmosphere completely changed.
Inside the Church of the Gesù
The interior was filled with gold decoration and paintings, but the overall atmosphere was darker and more solemn than I had expected.
What impressed me most was the ceiling.
The paintings and sculptures seemed to flow into one another, making the whole ceiling look incredibly three-dimensional. It almost felt as if the ceiling had opened up to the sky, with figures appearing to come out of it.
It was much more powerful in person than it looks in photos, and I stood there looking up for quite a while.
The fresco is one of the church’s most famous works and depicts The Triumph of the Name of Jesus. I had already seen so many magnificent churches in Rome, but this ceiling still managed to surprise me.
Inside the church, I also saw the chapel of Madonna della Strada, or Our Lady of the Way.
The small icon stood out beautifully against the elaborate gold and marble surrounding it.
In another chapel, I came across a relic of Saint Andrew Bobola, a 17th-century Polish Jesuit priest and martyr.
The reliquary contained a relic of his arm, and beside it I noticed the white eagle from the Polish coat of arms.
At the time, I didn’t understand the meaning behind everything I was seeing. It was only later, while going through my travel photos, that I realized how many stories were hidden in the places I had simply walked past.
The area around the main altar was just as elaborate.
In the dim interior, the gold, marble, paintings, and sculptures stood out even more.
I couldn’t stay for long, but I slowly walked around the church and looked at the different chapels and decorations.
It was still the Christmas season, so there was also a nativity scene inside.
I had seen nativity scenes in several churches during this trip, and each one had its own style and atmosphere. It was nice to find one here too, in the last church I visited in Rome.
It was only a short visit, but the incredible ceiling made the Church of the Gesù especially memorable.
And with that, my church visits in Rome came to an end.
Leaving Rome
After visiting the Church of the Gesù, I took a taxi back to my accommodation.
It was finally time to leave Rome.
I checked out, picked up my luggage, and headed straight to Termini Station. My next destination was Lourdes, France.
From Termini, I took the Leonardo Express back to Fiumicino Airport.
It was the same train I had taken when I first arrived in Rome, so this time everything felt much more familiar.
Just a few days earlier, Rome had felt new and a little nerve-racking. Now I had spent Christmas at the Vatican, visited several beautiful churches, and was riding the same train back to the airport.
It had only been a few days, but it felt like I had experienced so much.
From Rome to Lourdes
The weather was clear during the flight, and I could see the blue sky and the landscape below.
I was a little sad to leave Rome, but another place I had really wanted to visit on this trip was waiting for me.
That place was Lourdes.
The main reason I wanted to visit Lourdes was the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Lourdes, one of the best-known Marian pilgrimage sites in the world. According to Catholic tradition, the Virgin Mary appeared there to Bernadette Soubirous in 1858. Visiting the site of the apparitions was one of the main reasons I had planned this part of my trip.
Arriving in Lourdes
When I stepped outside the airport, I saw a sign for the shuttle bus into Lourdes.
I checked the information and waited for the bus there. I took the shuttle into town and got off near the Paradis stop.
But the first thing that surprised me when I arrived in Lourdes was something completely different.
There was almost no one on the streets.
Lourdes is such a famous pilgrimage destination that I had imagined it would be busy and full of people.
Instead, it was so quiet that for a moment I wondered if I had gotten off in the wrong place.
It seemed to be the quiet off-season. There were hardly any people around, and many of the shops and restaurants appeared to be closed.
With the mountains in the distance and the nearly empty streets, Lourdes felt like a completely different world from the Rome I had left only a few hours earlier.
Maybe because I had come straight from the crowds of Rome and the Vatican, the contrast felt even stronger.
As I got closer to the sanctuary area, I finally started to see a few more people.
And that was how my time in Lourdes began — much quieter than I had ever expected.
Read the previous part of my Rome trip: St. John Lateran, Scala Santa & Santa Croce in Gerusalemme