This little church is hard to find but well worth the extra effort although it is often closed when you get there. One of Borromini's masterpieces. It is located only a block from Piazza Navona, but not usually visible from the street, as you must enter the courtyard of an old palazzo to reach the church. Sant'Ivo is a small church the dome of which is shaped like the Star of David, but with every other point rounded. The steeple seen from the outside looks like it has a staircase wrapped around it that ascends to heaven. As the church was commissioned by the Barberini family that produced a number of popes and whose family symbol was the bee—some say the steeple resembles the stinger of the insect.

Sant'Ivo alla Sapienza (lit. 'Saint Ivo at the Sapienza ') is a Catholic church in Rome. Built in 1642–1660 by the architect Francesco Borromini, the church is widely regarded a masterpiece of Roman Baroque architecture. The church is at the rear of a courtyard at 40, Corso del Rinascimento; the complex is now used by the State Archives of Rome.