Another instance of a church containing a fantastic Caravaggio. Many times as my wife and I meandered around the streets of Rome we would wander into an inconspicuous church which had a Michelangelo or a Caravaggio. It was finding the unexpected like this artwork that made our visit to Rome so interesting.

No, the 4 stars is not for my favorite painter, Caravaggio, and yes, the Matthew's cycle is simply amazing. The deduction is for the most stupid idea to install a coin operated light at the Matthew chapel. We were there with a crowd marveling at the paintings, and suddenly, it all went dark! We were all scratching our heads. After some time, the chief husher (yes, he kept hushing the patrons) came to point us to the box on the side. Of course, as on cue it malfunctioned and he had to open the box and turned it back on. Again. What a stupid idea! You want to make money out of the paintings, sure, charge us! Don't install a stupid box that takes one Euro at a time for 60 seconds of light, and more over, not making it clear anyone that's how we can see these masterpieces. Unfortunately, down the road the Church of Augustines is doing the same thing with the Madonna of Loreto.

The Church of St. Louis of the French is a Catholic church located near Piazza Navona in Rome. The church is dedicated to the patron saints of France: Virgin Mary, Dionysius the Areopagite and King Louis IX of France. The church was built between 1518 and 1589.

Rome has more beautiful churches than you can shake a stick at. So, when walking in the direction of Piazza Navona from Piazza della Rotonda, stay alert and you will encounter the Church of St. Louis of the French, in short the French Church of Rome. It would take too much space to describe the impressive interior, with the famous paintings and the stylish marble walls, so I have included some pictures. As this church is not world famous as the St. Peter in the Vatican or St. Peter in Vincoli with the Moses statue, the church is very serene inside without tourist groups, so sit down on a pew, empty your head and marvel at all that beauty.

The church itself and the art work is impressive, well worth a visit. Worth remembering to dress accordingly as we witnessed some people being turned away due to their attire. However, hard to not notice the lights going off when the credit ran out! Just felt so ... strange!

The Church of St. Louis of the French (San Luigi dei Francesi) is located at the public square by the same name around halfway between Piazza Navona and Piazza Della Rotonda where you find the Pantheon. It is open from 9.30am to 12.45pm and 2.30pm to 6.30pm daily. This is the national church for French citizens living in Rome. It was designed by Giacomo della Porta and completed in 1589 by Domenico Fontana. The facade is tiered with niches fitted with statues of French national heroes. What most come here to see how is the ornate Baroque interior and in particular the Contarelli Chapel which contains three masterpiece cycle by Caravaggio known as the Life of St. Matthew (1599-1600). These are the world famous 'The Calling', 'The Inspiration' and The Martydom' of St. Matthew. Expect a small crowd of art lovers and curious other tourists most of the time at this particular chapel. There is a coin operating machine which is fairly regularly fed by tourists wishing to illuminate the masterpieces so that nice pictures can be taken. Beyond the Caravaggio paintings, the works in other chapels are heavily decorated and fairly nice to view as well. The nave itself is adorned with ornamentation, lots of gilding and a good ceiling fresco. These may be overlooked because of the heavy focus on the Contarelli Chapel but are worth a few minutes of your time as well.