The Basilica Santi Quattro Coronati

There is a quiet oasis a few steps from the Colosseum.

John and I found it on a hill at the top of Via Santi Quattro.

When we entered the Basilica of Santi Quattro Coronati

we slipped into an ancient Christian world of monasteries and Church mysteries.

Our first goal was the thirteenth century Chapel of Saint Sylvester. We passed through two courtyards, rang a bell and the face of a nun appeared at a grilled window.

We paid two euros each and she buzzed us in to the chapel. The space felt holy.

The frescos tell us of Emperor Constantine's leprosy and his miraculous cure.

Constantine, his face spotted by sores, is surrounded by his concerned subjects.

He is cured by Saint Sylvester and converts to Christianity.

The remarkable cycle of frescos ends with Saint Sylvester bringing a dead bull back to life.

The paintings surrounding the altar at the other end of the chapel are painted in a later style.

Emperor Constantine reminded John of Father Christmas.

We thought this painting had the long-limbed expressionism of the style called Mannerism.

We left the chapel. Through a side door we were allowed entry into a intimate cloister.

Like the chapel the cloister also dated from the 13th century.

It was an oasis of calm in the centre of Rome.

Unhurried we listened to the twelfth century fountain. We felt other-worldly.

The corridors surrounding the cloister have become a display area for memorials from its past,

including this elegant engraving on marble slab.

On our way out of the monastery we passed through a huge defence wall, its arch topped by a 9th century bell tower -- the oldest Christian bell tower in Rome.

We followed these white-robed nuns to the busy city below.