Santa Maria Maggiore
Quick Facts:
- The church is built on the main summit of the Esquiline Hill.
- The Romanesque bell tower is the highest in Rome at 75 meters.
- The façade was designed in 1743 by Ferdinando Fuga.
- The mosaic on the second floor of the façade dates between 1288-92, by Filippo Rusuti. This type of mosaic is usually only found in the apse of a church. You must purchase the paid tour if you want to see it up close. On the paid tour you will also get a brief glimpse of the Bernini staircase. Details for the tour can be found at a podium to the right side of the entrance door.
- On the left side of the portico is the “Holy Door” which is only opened in Holy Years.
- Bernini is entombed in the floor.
|
|
|
Exterior and Mosaics
The Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore stands on the Esquiline Hill on the site of a temple to the Roman, virgin, goddess Cybele. It is likely that the Vatican, alarmed by the local women’s continuing worship of the goddess Cybele, hoped to compel them to switch their devotion to the new Virgin goddess who had been named “Theotokos,” (The god-bearer) at the Council of Ephesus in 431CE.
According to legend, the first church was built here by Pope Liberius, the 36th pope, from 352 to 366, on the site of an apparition of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Legend has it, that the Virgin appeared to Pope Liberius, during his first summer on the job, and also to the patrician, Giovanni Patrizio, on August 4, 352, instructing Liberius to build a church on the Esquiline Hill, where he would find fresh fallen snow (in the middle of August, in Italy). But apparently, the snowfall miracle happened and that night, the floor plan was outlined by a miraculous snowfall on the Esquiline Hill. Giovanni and his wife, had no children to inherit all their worldy goods, so they supplied the funds to build the church. Although this happened in 352, this legend does not appear in history until sometime between the tenth and twelfth centuries, which was the greatest era in history for manufacturer of legends. The church’s altarpiece by Masolino illustrates this miraculous event.
Archaeological evidence, on the other hand, indicates that the church was probably first built in the early 400s and completed under Pope Sixtus III (432-440). This was a time when churches dedicated to Mary were beginning to spring up throughout the Empire. According to some sources, it was the first church in Western Europe to be dedicated to the Virgin.
The church has had many names over the years: Santa Maria della Neve (St. Mary of the Snow) after the snowfall, then Santa Maria Liberiana after the Pope. Once the basilica obtained a relic of the Holy Crib, it was called Santa Maria Del Presepe (St. Mary of the Crib). It was finally named Santa Maria Maggiore (St. Mary Major) because it is the largest of the twenty-six churches in Rome dedicated to the Virgin Mary.
It was fully restored and renovated from 1741-43; the façade and most of the interior decorations date from this period. However, both the 5th and 12th century mosaics were preserved in the upper portico.
The Bell Tower is the highest in the city and the last built in Rome. It commemorates the return of the popes from Avignon in 1377.
Santa Maria Maggiore still retains its ancient layout, but most of the Neo-Classical exterior dates from the 18th century. The only visible exterior parts of the Early Christian basilica are a short length of the clerestory wall, seen from Via dell’Esquilino, and the barely visible central part of the façade with its mosaic of Christ Enthroned.
Before the Renaissance, this basilica was not on a road to anywhere. Today, it sits in the centre of a very busy, major Roman intersection.
Notes:
Cybele: Cybele was originally an Anatolian (Asia minor) mother goddess. In Rome she was known as Magna Mater or Great Mother. She (the statue of her) was introduced to the people of Rome by being floated down the Tiber River in a boat.
Theotokos: Theotokos is the Greek title of Mary, the mother of Christ.
According to legend, the first church was built here by Pope Liberius, the 36th pope, from 352 to 366, on the site of an apparition of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Legend has it, that the Virgin appeared to Pope Liberius, during his first summer on the job, and also to the patrician, Giovanni Patrizio, on August 4, 352, instructing Liberius to build a church on the Esquiline Hill, where he would find fresh fallen snow (in the middle of August, in Italy). But apparently, the snowfall miracle happened and that night, the floor plan was outlined by a miraculous snowfall on the Esquiline Hill. Giovanni and his wife, had no children to inherit all their worldy goods, so they supplied the funds to build the church. Although this happened in 352, this legend does not appear in history until sometime between the tenth and twelfth centuries, which was the greatest era in history for manufacturer of legends. The church’s altarpiece by Masolino illustrates this miraculous event.
Archaeological evidence, on the other hand, indicates that the church was probably first built in the early 400s and completed under Pope Sixtus III (432-440). This was a time when churches dedicated to Mary were beginning to spring up throughout the Empire. According to some sources, it was the first church in Western Europe to be dedicated to the Virgin.
The church has had many names over the years: Santa Maria della Neve (St. Mary of the Snow) after the snowfall, then Santa Maria Liberiana after the Pope. Once the basilica obtained a relic of the Holy Crib, it was called Santa Maria Del Presepe (St. Mary of the Crib). It was finally named Santa Maria Maggiore (St. Mary Major) because it is the largest of the twenty-six churches in Rome dedicated to the Virgin Mary.
It was fully restored and renovated from 1741-43; the façade and most of the interior decorations date from this period. However, both the 5th and 12th century mosaics were preserved in the upper portico.
The Bell Tower is the highest in the city and the last built in Rome. It commemorates the return of the popes from Avignon in 1377.
Santa Maria Maggiore still retains its ancient layout, but most of the Neo-Classical exterior dates from the 18th century. The only visible exterior parts of the Early Christian basilica are a short length of the clerestory wall, seen from Via dell’Esquilino, and the barely visible central part of the façade with its mosaic of Christ Enthroned.
Before the Renaissance, this basilica was not on a road to anywhere. Today, it sits in the centre of a very busy, major Roman intersection.
Notes:
Cybele: Cybele was originally an Anatolian (Asia minor) mother goddess. In Rome she was known as Magna Mater or Great Mother. She (the statue of her) was introduced to the people of Rome by being floated down the Tiber River in a boat.
Theotokos: Theotokos is the Greek title of Mary, the mother of Christ.
Interior
Stepping through the doors of Santa Maria Maggiore will make you feel like you have entered another world and that you are a very tiny person! Glitter and gold will catch you off guard and force you to stop walking so you can balance yourself firmly within the vision. The interior offers a very lovely spectacle of beauty and elegance.
The interior of the basilica preserves its majestic Early Christian form which was standard in Rome in the 5th century presenting a tall, wide nave with side aisles and a round apse at the end. This style reflects the Roman basilica ruins of Ulpia, that we visited earlier in this tour at Trajan’s Forum. Looking up you will see an amazing ceiling that is gilded with some of the first, brilliant, shiny gold brought back from the new world by Christopher Columbus. The gold was brought to Spain from America, and presented by Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain, who in turn presented it to Pope Alexander IV. The ceiling is a masterpiece of Renaissance and the work of Guiliano da Sangallo.
As you walk toward the front of the church be sure to look up to see the 5th-century mosaic panels on both sides of the nave. These panels depict scenes from the Old Testament in a thoroughly narrative style. This was the first large-scale cycle of Biblical scenes in Rome, an early manifestation of what has come to be known as the Biblia Pauperum, or the Bible of the Poor, which allowed illiterate worshipers to study Bible stories through pictures. The left side has scenes of Abraham, Jacob and Isaac while the right side has scenes of Moses and Joshua. These subjects, in the Early Christian tradition, illustrate the faith of Christ’s precursors and the ways in which God rewards their faith. Only twenty-seven of the original forty-two mosaic panels remain. These mosaics are notable because they are somewhat realistic representations, often of miraculous events, with landscapes, blue skies, architecture in a kind of perspective, with figures modeled on the traditional ancestors of Christ, and the Hebrew people. If you have binoculars with you on this tour, pull them out of your pocket now, to get a close look at nave mosaics; they are up pretty high and are difficult to see.
Be sure to take a look at the columns of the nave as you pass by each one. Each is made of Athenian marble and was probably part of the first basilica.
The High Altar is a papal altar which means only the pope can use it unless you have special permission. It is formed by a fine sarcophagus of porhyry, which is a variety of igneous rock consisting of large-grained crystals, such as feldspar or quartz. In its non-geological traditional use, the term “porphyry” refers to the purple-red form of this stone, valued for its appearance. The sarcophagus is the tomb of patrician Giovanni who is said to have funded the building of the church.
The Confession: Two flights of steps lead down to the Confession which was richly decorated with fine marble by Pope Pius IX who intended to be buried here. During the last years of his life he changed his mind and desired to be buried in the church of S. Laurence, among the poor, opposite the tomb of his patron S. Laurence. Instead, you’ll find St. Matthias the Apostle buried here. He was the thirteenth apostle, elected after Judas had left the disciples.
The Chancel Arch or Triumphal Arch is the space around the altar in the sanctuary at the liturgical east end of a traditional Christian church, possibly including the choir. It may terminate an apse. In this basilica it is covered with beautiful mosaics from the 5th century and depict scenes from the early life of Christ. High up in the centre is the celestial throne prepared by God for his elect, supporting the cross, symbol of resurrection and triumph, and the book of the seven seals of the Apocalypse. On the sides are the princes of the Apostles, Peter and Paul, as principal ministers of God, with open books in their hands; around the symbols of the four evangelists.
On the left is the Annunciation of the angel; the adoration of the magi who in the child, recognized God and worshiped him; and the massacre of the innocents. The young Christ seated on a throne, attended by angels and Mary on the left is dressed as Queen of Heaven with the basket of wool which she and her mother, St. Ann, would spin to make the yarn for the tapestries to be hung in the Temple in Jerusalem.
On the right, is the presentation in the temple, in which Simeon announced to the Virgin that which had been revealed to him by the Holy Ghost; the dispute with the doctors; Herod sending the Magi to Bethlehem; lower down are the cities of Bethlehem and Jerusalem with flocks of sheep symbolizing the two churches of the Jews and of the Gentiles.
In the centre is a circle containing the apocalyptic throne of Christ with the Book of the Seven Seals, flanked by Saints Peter, Paul and the Tetramorph; the symbols of the Four Evangelists. At the bottom is the inscription: XYSTUS EPISCOPUS PLEBI DEI, “Sixtus the Bishop to the people of God.”
The apse mosaic depicting the Coronation of the Virgin was created by the Franciscan friar, Jacopo Torriti, from 1295. It depicts the Coronation of Mary by Christ in a huge medallion which is encircled with an elegant stylized vine of a type first found in the mosaics of the 4th-century Lateran Baptistery and the Mausoleum of Galla Placidia from 425 in Ravenna. At the top of the apse is the seashell design that we first encountered in mosaics of ancient Rome and Herculaneum. Interspersed among the vines are flowers, birds and animals symbolizing various aspects of Christian belief. In the lower part of the mosaic, we can see the standing figures of St. Peter, St. Paul and Pope Nicholas IV on the left side, with St. John the Baptist, St. James the Great, St. Antony and Jacopo Colonna on the right side.
Believe it or not, Bernini and his family are buried in this church, but without a fabulous chapel or monument. He is in the floor, to the right of the high altar is the tomb. It is marked by engraving in a piece of marble, set in the floor, and it is very easy to miss.
What to See in Rome, Paglia, 1938, pages 188 - 195
Notes:
Spandrel: The space between two arches.
The interior of the basilica preserves its majestic Early Christian form which was standard in Rome in the 5th century presenting a tall, wide nave with side aisles and a round apse at the end. This style reflects the Roman basilica ruins of Ulpia, that we visited earlier in this tour at Trajan’s Forum. Looking up you will see an amazing ceiling that is gilded with some of the first, brilliant, shiny gold brought back from the new world by Christopher Columbus. The gold was brought to Spain from America, and presented by Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain, who in turn presented it to Pope Alexander IV. The ceiling is a masterpiece of Renaissance and the work of Guiliano da Sangallo.
As you walk toward the front of the church be sure to look up to see the 5th-century mosaic panels on both sides of the nave. These panels depict scenes from the Old Testament in a thoroughly narrative style. This was the first large-scale cycle of Biblical scenes in Rome, an early manifestation of what has come to be known as the Biblia Pauperum, or the Bible of the Poor, which allowed illiterate worshipers to study Bible stories through pictures. The left side has scenes of Abraham, Jacob and Isaac while the right side has scenes of Moses and Joshua. These subjects, in the Early Christian tradition, illustrate the faith of Christ’s precursors and the ways in which God rewards their faith. Only twenty-seven of the original forty-two mosaic panels remain. These mosaics are notable because they are somewhat realistic representations, often of miraculous events, with landscapes, blue skies, architecture in a kind of perspective, with figures modeled on the traditional ancestors of Christ, and the Hebrew people. If you have binoculars with you on this tour, pull them out of your pocket now, to get a close look at nave mosaics; they are up pretty high and are difficult to see.
Be sure to take a look at the columns of the nave as you pass by each one. Each is made of Athenian marble and was probably part of the first basilica.
The High Altar is a papal altar which means only the pope can use it unless you have special permission. It is formed by a fine sarcophagus of porhyry, which is a variety of igneous rock consisting of large-grained crystals, such as feldspar or quartz. In its non-geological traditional use, the term “porphyry” refers to the purple-red form of this stone, valued for its appearance. The sarcophagus is the tomb of patrician Giovanni who is said to have funded the building of the church.
The Confession: Two flights of steps lead down to the Confession which was richly decorated with fine marble by Pope Pius IX who intended to be buried here. During the last years of his life he changed his mind and desired to be buried in the church of S. Laurence, among the poor, opposite the tomb of his patron S. Laurence. Instead, you’ll find St. Matthias the Apostle buried here. He was the thirteenth apostle, elected after Judas had left the disciples.
The Chancel Arch or Triumphal Arch is the space around the altar in the sanctuary at the liturgical east end of a traditional Christian church, possibly including the choir. It may terminate an apse. In this basilica it is covered with beautiful mosaics from the 5th century and depict scenes from the early life of Christ. High up in the centre is the celestial throne prepared by God for his elect, supporting the cross, symbol of resurrection and triumph, and the book of the seven seals of the Apocalypse. On the sides are the princes of the Apostles, Peter and Paul, as principal ministers of God, with open books in their hands; around the symbols of the four evangelists.
On the left is the Annunciation of the angel; the adoration of the magi who in the child, recognized God and worshiped him; and the massacre of the innocents. The young Christ seated on a throne, attended by angels and Mary on the left is dressed as Queen of Heaven with the basket of wool which she and her mother, St. Ann, would spin to make the yarn for the tapestries to be hung in the Temple in Jerusalem.
On the right, is the presentation in the temple, in which Simeon announced to the Virgin that which had been revealed to him by the Holy Ghost; the dispute with the doctors; Herod sending the Magi to Bethlehem; lower down are the cities of Bethlehem and Jerusalem with flocks of sheep symbolizing the two churches of the Jews and of the Gentiles.
In the centre is a circle containing the apocalyptic throne of Christ with the Book of the Seven Seals, flanked by Saints Peter, Paul and the Tetramorph; the symbols of the Four Evangelists. At the bottom is the inscription: XYSTUS EPISCOPUS PLEBI DEI, “Sixtus the Bishop to the people of God.”
The apse mosaic depicting the Coronation of the Virgin was created by the Franciscan friar, Jacopo Torriti, from 1295. It depicts the Coronation of Mary by Christ in a huge medallion which is encircled with an elegant stylized vine of a type first found in the mosaics of the 4th-century Lateran Baptistery and the Mausoleum of Galla Placidia from 425 in Ravenna. At the top of the apse is the seashell design that we first encountered in mosaics of ancient Rome and Herculaneum. Interspersed among the vines are flowers, birds and animals symbolizing various aspects of Christian belief. In the lower part of the mosaic, we can see the standing figures of St. Peter, St. Paul and Pope Nicholas IV on the left side, with St. John the Baptist, St. James the Great, St. Antony and Jacopo Colonna on the right side.
Believe it or not, Bernini and his family are buried in this church, but without a fabulous chapel or monument. He is in the floor, to the right of the high altar is the tomb. It is marked by engraving in a piece of marble, set in the floor, and it is very easy to miss.
What to See in Rome, Paglia, 1938, pages 188 - 195
Notes:
Spandrel: The space between two arches.
Directions Santa Maria Maggiore to Santa Prassede - Distance 500 M Time to walk: 3 Min
- Exit the church through the front door. Turn right to go down the steps and through the side gate leading to the road.
- Pass through the gates and cross the road at the crosswalk, turn left when you're on the other side.
- Cross the road at the crosswalk. Turn left, then make a quick right.
- continue on the road. The church will be a few steps ahead of you on the right.
Santa Prassede