Paris1972-Versailles2003

I taking you back to Rome for a while. This church as many others for some reason of mine was left out or mix in with other posts,and they should have a post of their own, me think, There are so many old stone to see there with lots of history and architecture features as well. Therefore, let me give them credit and tell you about the Basilica Saint Mary Maggiore of Rome !!! Hope you enjoy the post as I.

I will be brief just for the memories, there is a lot more on them there and here, These are several left out from my blog for some unexplained reason, Catching up !!!

The Basilica Saint Mary Maggiore (Piazza di S. Maria Maggiore) was erected after the Council of Ephesus in 431 under Pope Sixtus III, this was the first Roman church dedicated to the cult of the divine motherhood of Mary, sanctioned during this ecumenical council. The history of the building also includes many legends, the best known of which is that of the “miracle of the snow”: on the night of August 4 to 5, 356, the Virgin appeared in a dream to Pope Liberius indicating the place where to build a church. At this place, that night it would have miraculously snowed. The most important of the Roman churches dedicated to the Virgin Mary thus stands at the top of Mount Cispio (the highest of the three mountains that make up the Esquiline hill), erected on the remains of a building dating from Augustus. The original church, with three naves and a narthex, without transept, was therefore founded between 432 and 440 by Sixtus III. In the second half of the 14C, the bell tower was built. The basilica is a mixture of architecture from several periods: the nave and its ancient Ionic columns, the early Christian sanctuary from the 5C, the Romanesque campanile from the Middle Ages, the Renaissance ceilings, the Baroque domes, etc. Having retained its medieval character for a long time, the basilica was considerably transformed from the end of the 16C by Popes Sixtus V and Paul V. The two large side chapels (Sistine and Pauline) were built, as well as the building to the right of the facade. .Between 1670 and 1676, the apse was redesigned. The last major construction is the facade in the first half of the 18C, this facade is superimposed on the older ones. In the loggia of the blessing, accessible by a ladder under the porch,

The mosaics found in the Basilica Santa Maria Maggiore are one of the oldest representations of the Virgin Mary in Christian Late Antiquity.The mosaics of the triumphal arch and the nave gave a model for the future representations of the Virgin Mary. The triumphal arch at the head of the nave is illustrated with magnificent mosaics depicting different scenes of Christ and the Virgin Mary. One of the scenes that are visible on the triumphal arch was a panel of Christ’s enthronement with a group of angels as his court, Another panel found on the triumphal arch is of the Virgin, she is crowned and dressed in a colorful veil, her wardrobe subtly brings to mind that of a Roman empress and in this panel she has her divine son walking with her and a suite of angels and Joseph ready to greet her Another panel is known as the Adoration of the Magi and this mosaic depicts Infant Christ and The Virgin and the arrival of the three wise men,The other panel depicts the Virgin accompanied by five martyrs.

The nave of the Basilica Santa Maria Maggiore was covered in mosaics representing Old Testament events of Moses leading the Jews out of Egypt across the Red Sea, Under the high altar of the basilica is the Crypt of the Nativity or Bethlehem Crypt, with a crystal reliquary said to contain wood from the Holy Crib of the nativity of Jesus Christ. Here is the burial place of Saint Jerome, the 4C Doctor of the Church who translated the Bible into the Latin language, The main altar in the chapel has four gilded bronze angels holding up the ciborium, which is a model of the chapel itself. Beneath this altar is the Oratory or Chapel of the Nativity, on whose altar, at that time situated in the Crypt of the Nativity below the main altar of the church itself, Ignatius of Loyola celebrated his first Mass as a priest on 25 December 1538.The Mannerist interior decoration of the Sistine Chapel was completed between 1587 and1589,

The Corinthian column done in 1614 in the Piazza Santa Maria Maggiore celebrates the famous icon of the Virgin Mary now enshrined in the Borghese Chapel of the basilica. It is known as Salus Populi Romani, or Health of the Roman People or Salvation of the Roman People, due to a miracle in which the icon reportedly helped keep plague from the city. The icon is at least a thousand years old, and according to a tradition was painted from life by St Luke the Evangelist using the wooden table of the Holy Family in Nazareth. The fountain at the base combines the armorial eagles and dragons of Paul V . The column itself was the sole intact remainder from the Basilica of Maxentius and Constantine in the Roman Forum. In a papal bull from the year of its installation, the pope decreed three years of indulgences to those who uttered a prayer to the Virgin while saluting the column.

The Rome tourist office on the Basilica Santa Maria Maggiore:  https://turismoroma.it/en/places/basilica-santa-maria-maggiore

The official Papal Vatican site on the Basilica Santa Maria Maggiore : https://www.basilicasantamariamaggiore.va/en.html

There you go folks, this is Rome, the eternal City. One of the many monuments to visit while in the City, me think. Again, hope you enjoy the post on the Basilica Saint Mary Maggiore of Rome !!! as I.

And remember, happy travels, good health, and many cheers to all !!!