The Church of Santa Sabina is easy to overlook if you don’t know what you’re searching for, making it all the more worthy of finding. Built on the site of the Temple of Juno Regina, the 5th-century church is hidden on the residential Aventino Minore, the smaller of Rome’s Aventine hills, with a medieval fortress wall and entrance gate opening to a gorgeous courtyard lined with ancient columns, tomb decorations, and orange trees. Santa Sabina’s exterior and interior decoration is a celebration of recycled history, from ancient ruins to its campanile (bell tower).
