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Charles Dickens was not a fan of the horrifying wall decorations in this sixth-century cathedral.
The walls of this chapel are covered in 36 paintings that show a variety of ways people can pass away. Santo Stefano Rotondo was dedicated probably in the middle of the fourth century, but its grisly decorations were added sometime in the sixteenth century. Roman martyrs are seen in these murals being crucified, flayed, cooked, vivisected, roasted, and buried alive. Above each mural is the name of the emperor who authorized that particular form of torture.
