Luogo - Religious building

Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore

Where Piazza di S. Maria Maggiore, 42, Roma

The Basilica of St. Mary the Greater is one of the four papal basilicas in Rome. On the top of the Esquiline Hill, is the only one to have retained the primitive early Christian structure. It was built by Pope Sixtus III (432-440), who dedicated it to the worship of the Virgin Mary, on the remains of an earlier church. The plant originally had three naves, divided by 21 columns with Ionic capitals; the nave was lit by 21 windows on each side (half of which were later closed) and was topped by a wooden roof with exposed trusses. Also in Sistine age, the aisle was decorated with mosaics with a cycle of stories of the Old Testament. The Basilica was the subject of significant action ahead of the first jubilee, in 1300, during the pontificate of Nicholas IV: were added to the transept and a new apse, decorated with mosaics made by Jacopo Torriti; the same period are the mosaics of the facade, designed by Filippo Rusuti, commissioned by Cardinal Pietro Colonna. In the fifteenth century the ceiling of the nave was coffered decorated, designed by Giuliano da Sangallo: a rich carved with the arms of the pontiff and gilding with gold leaf from Peru. When Sixtus V chose the Basilica as the site of his burial, in 1585, he commissioned the architect Domenico Fontana a new monumental chapel, dedicated to the Blessed Sacrament: the environment had to integrate the ancient Oratory of the Nativity, with the sculptures of Arnolfo di Cambio and the relics of the holy manger. The pope had also run a series of frescoes, as well as his successor, Pope Paul V Borghese, who was responsible for the "Paolina Chapel" (by Flaminio Ponzio). The last actions on the outside were made by Benedict XIV, who commissioned Ferdinando Fuga the remaking of the main facade, characterized by a porch and a loggia. Inside, the Basilica houses a Museum, whose centerpiece is the "Holy Crib", an adoration of the Magi in stone by Arnolfo di Cambio. With its 75 meters, the Romanesque bell tower of the Basilica is the highest of Rome. In the 60s and 70s an archaeological dig under the floor has unearthed numerous environments second and third centuries, currently accessible.

Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore c
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