Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore

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The patriarchal Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore is located on the highest point of the Esquilino hillside in Rome and is the only building that conserves its early Christian structure.

It was founded by Pope Sisto III during the fifth century in honour of the divine maternity of the Madonna. It is said that it was the mother of Jesus that indicated the site on which the church was to be built to Pope Liberio in a dream. On August 5th, after an unusual snowfall, he traced the perimetre of the present Basilica on the ground.

It was a real "snow miracle", hence every year on the 5th of August, white flower petals are thrown on the ground so as to remember the Madonna della Neve (Madonna of the Snow).

The building hosts the marvellous mosaic cycle showing the Life of the Virgin and scenes from Jesus' infancy, then in the medieval age the mosaic apse was modified with the Coronation of Santa Maria.

In 1605 Pope Paul V commissioned the realisation of the Capella Paolina under the form of a Greek cross to the architect Flamiano Ponzio. Many artists contributed to the realisation of the Basilica: Jacopo Torriti, Carlo Rainaldi, Filippo Rusuti, Ferdinando Fuga, and others.

The Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore is also famous because it hosts the first crib in history that portrays the Nativity similar to the grotto in Bethlehem. It was realised by Arnolfo di Cambio under the rule of Pope Niccolò in the thirteenth century.

Structure nearby "Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore" present on ItaliaABC

• Hotels
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• Apartments
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• Restaurants
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