No matter your religion or beliefs, Jesus suffered that day. The Catholic Church will never let us forget it. When you walk into their relics of religion, the pain of his final day is prominent. Some people even wear the cross as a reminder of mortality and human sin. I remember Bill Hicks, the famously irreverent comedian, said that if Jesus ever comes back, the cross is the last thing he’d want to see. Nevertheless, churches are magnificent structures and smell nice inside. Italy has a church in every city, a city on every hill and thousands of hills in every region; here are a few of my favorites.

Below, in Siena, is one of the most beautiful facades I’ve ever seen. Click the pictures to view extreme close-ups. Some of them actually require more inspection to get the full effect.

Here is a beautiful golden mosaic in Trieste.