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Status as a papal major basilica. Map by Giacomo Lauro and Antonio Tempesta depicting Saint Mary Major among the Seven Pilgrim Churches of Rome in 1599, in view of the Holy Year of 1600. No Catholic church can be honored with the title of basilica unless by apostolic grant or from immemorial custom. [17] . St.
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- Overview
- Foundation and tradition
- Interior and exterior details
- Relics, the Salus Populi Romani icon, and papal tombs
Santa Maria Maggiore, one of four papal basilicas in Rome and the largest of the Marian churches (dedicated to the Virgin Mary) in the city. Founded in 432 ce, the basilica houses what is believed to be a relic of the manger in which the infant Jesus was laid in Bethlehem as well as the Marian icon Salus Populi Romani. The basilica contains several...
Located on the Esquiline Hill (one of the Seven Hills upon which Rome was built), Santa Maria Maggiore stands near the site of a temple dedicated to the goddess Juno. According to legend, on August 5, 358, Pope Liberius (reigned 352–366) had a vision of Mary in which she told him to build a church where snow would fall that same night, despite its ...
The present building has gone through many stages of construction, though the interior retains many of the basilica’s original elements. The central nave is lined with marble columns that were salvaged from pre-Christian temples and other early Roman buildings that had been demolished. The blue-and-gold mosaics in the nave date from the time the church was built and depict stories from the Old Testament. Lining the triumphal arch are more mosaics—also from the 5th century and exceptionally well preserved—that portray Jesus as a child. In the 13th century Pope Nicholas IV (reigned 1288–92) commissioned artist Jacopo Torriti to create another series of mosaics, representing scenes from the life of Mary, to decorate the newly built apse.
Santa Maria Maggiore has several chapels, including the Sistine Chapel (distinct from the famous Sistine Chapel of the Vatican Palace), built by Domenico Fontana between 1585–87. At the time of its construction, the Sistine Chapel was the largest chapel in Rome. Also known as the Chapel of the Nativity, it contains frescoes by Cesare Nebbia and Giovanni Guerra that portray scenes from Jesus’ childhood, as well as a gilded bronze tabernacle by Ludovico del Duca. Just outside the Sistine Chapel are the tombs of sculptors Pietro and Gian Lorenzo Bernini, whose workshop was located behind the Pauline Chapel. The father and son contributed numerous sculptures to Santa Maria Maggiore, and Gian Lorenzo Bernini is believed to have designed the spiral staircase made of travertine that connects the Hall of Popes to the sacristy.
The church’s most famous treasure is the Crib of Christ relic—five pieces of sycamore wood bound by bits of iron. The relic is kept in a crib-shaped crystal reliquary above the papal altar in the confessio (or crypt). Its presence has lent the church another of its many alternate names—the Bethlehem of the West. Other relics housed at Santa Maria Maggiore include the remains of St. Matthew the Apostle and St. Jerome. The icon of Mary known as the Salus Populi Romani (Latin: “Health of the Roman People”), which hangs above the altar in the Pauline Chapel, is believed to have been made by St. Luke the Evangelist. The icon, on a cedar panel measuring 46 × 31 inches (117 × 79 cm), shows Mary holding the baby Jesus. Tradition says that the icon was taken on a procession led by Pope Gregory I (reigned 590–604) through the streets of Rome in 590 while the city was being racked by plague. At the top of Hadrian’s Tomb (now the Castel Sant’Angelo), Gregory had a vision of St. Michael the Archangel, convincing him that Rome would be spared further devastation.
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Seven popes are buried in the basilica:
•Honorius III (reigned 1216–27)
•Nicholas IV (reigned 1288–92)
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Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore (Basilica of Saint Mary Major) is one of Rome’s four patriarchal or ‘Papal’ basilicas. Originally built in the 5th century – from which time it still uniquely retains its structure – this ecclesiastical giant bears the works of many centuries.
- Sarah Roller
Welcome to St Mary Major, the spiritual heart of Christianity and Marian devotion, one of the four Papal Basilicas in Rome. Plan your pilgrimage or visit to the most important and oldest Marian Shrine in the West, a shrine that houses the icon of the Salus Populi Romani and the Sacred Cradle of Jesus.
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Dec 20, 2021 · All you need to know about Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore, one of the most significant and stunning churches in Rome, Italy.
