Santa Maria Maggiore

One of the four papal basilicas, Santa Maria Maggiore was built in the 430s and keeps its original nave: a colonnade of ancient columns with a band of fifth-century mosaics above it showing Old Testament scenes, among the oldest Christian narrative mosaics anywhere, and a triumphal arch of the same date. The apse mosaic of the Coronation of the Virgin is a thirteenth-century addition by Torriti. The coffered ceiling was gilded around 1500 and tradition holds the gold was the first brought back from the Americas, presented by Ferdinand and Isabella. Bernini is buried here in a plain floor slab, as he asked.

History

The church was built on the Esquiline Hill under Pope Celestine I and consecrated to the Virgin Mary by Pope Sixtus III on 5 August 434, soon after the Council of Ephesus of 431 had proclaimed Mary Mother of God; the inscription on the triumphal arch, Sixtus Episcopus plebi Dei, records his part. It keeps the core of its 5th-century structure, with the mosaics of the nave and triumphal arch, despite later building and damage in the earthquake of 1348, and it is the largest Marian church in Rome, dedicated to Our Lady of the Snow (Wikipedia, Santa Maria Maggiore).

Highlights

• The fifth-century nave mosaics - Old Testament scenes above the colonnade.
• The Torriti apse - a thirteenth-century Coronation of the Virgin.
• The gilded ceiling - said to use the first gold brought from the Americas.
• Bernini's grave - a plain floor slab for the sculptor of baroque Rome.

When to go

Year-round; the basilica is free and open daily, with services throughout. The nave mosaics are high and small, so binoculars help considerably. Dress rules are enforced.

What to expect

The fifth-century mosaics are far above eye level and hard to read without optics. Dress codes are enforced at the door. The area around Termini is busy and unremarkable.

Nearby

Termini station lies east; the Colosseum is southwest.

Key facts