Soft-serve architecture

The curling dome of Sant'Ivo alla Sapienza plays peek-a-boo with pedestrians on the surrounding streets—good thing, as the church itself is hidden in a courtyard

Beyond a nondescript doorway halfway along the boulevard that parallels Piazza Navona, it a courtyard hiding one of the lovliest baroque churches in Rome.

Borromini

designed the courtyard of Giacomo della Porta's Palazzo della Sapienza in the 1640s, surrounding three sides with porticoes and the back with the magnificent glowing white facade of Sant'Ivo church.

This geometrically complex and highly influential baroque playground of concave and convex curves is topped by a remarkable

spiraling oval dome

that looks an awful lot like soft-serve ice cream and subsequently became a favorite feature on baroque churches throughout northern Europe.

Although the light-filled oval interior is fine as well, don't let the church's brief open hours put you off, because the best part really is that facade.

Corso Rinascimento 40
Closed Saturdays

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