Description
The Basilica of St. John Lateran is the cathedral of Rome, not St. Peter's: it stands on the Caelian Hill and is "mother and head of all the churches of the City and of the world." Visitors find an enormous basilica with five aisles, colossal statues, a medieval cloister and an octagonal baptistery.
The archbasilica has a very long name, dedicated to the Most Holy Savior and to Saints John the Baptist and John the Evangelist. Since 324 it has been a fixed point of Christendom. The facade, by Alessandro Galilei, dates from 1732: a long portico, an airy loggia and gigantic statues on top, with a Christ among saintly bishops of East and West.
The central door comes from the Curia Julia, the ancient seat of the Senate in the Forum, and was adapted by Borromini. Inside, in the niches of the nave's pillars, stand the twelve apostles: monumental sculptures by artists such as Pierre Legros and Camillo Rusconi. Underfoot survives the Cosmatesque floor of the medieval basilica.
At the crossing of nave and transept rises the papal altar, topped by the Gothic ciborium of Giovanni di Stefano, from 1370, with the reliquaries of the heads of Saints Peter and Paul. In the apse is a huge mosaic restored in 1292, with Pope Nicholas IV kneeling before the Virgin.
The cloister, with the Vassalletto family's little Cosmatesque columns, is a corner of peace: at 36 meters a side, it is the largest in Rome. Outside, in the square, stands the Lateran obelisk, of red granite and over 32 meters tall: it arrived from Egypt in 357 and was raised again in 1588.
Next door is the octagonal baptistery, founded by Sixtus III, which for generations was the only one in Rome and served as a model for others all over Italy. A short distance away is the Scala Santa, which the faithful believe to be the staircase of Pilate's praetorium, brought to Rome by Helena, mother of Constantine.
Founded by Constantine on land of the Laterani family, hence its name, the basilica was for almost a thousand years the center of the popes' power, who lived in the palace beside it. On February 22, 1300, Boniface VIII proclaimed the first Jubilee here.
Here, at the end of the 9th century, the macabre trial of Pope Formosus took place: the corpse was dug up, dressed in the vestments and set on a throne to answer the charges. The verdict declared him unworthy and the body ended up in the Tiber. In 896 an earthquake brought down the roof of the central nave, and many saw it as divine punishment.
Fires and earthquakes wounded it many times. In the mid-1600s Innocent X called in Francesco Borromini, who renewed the interior while keeping the five aisles and the coffered ceiling. In 1880-1886 Leo XIII had the apse enlarged.
Don't miss
• The twelve apostles.
• The Gothic ciborium.
• The apse mosaic.
• The cloister.
• The baptistery.
Did you know?
• The basilica and the buildings around it are in Italy, but they enjoy extraterritoriality, under the full jurisdiction of the Holy See.
• A legend has Constantine baptized in the baptistery: in reality he was baptized in the East.
The archbasilica has a very long name, dedicated to the Most Holy Savior and to Saints John the Baptist and John the Evangelist. Since 324 it has been a fixed point of Christendom. The facade, by Alessandro Galilei, dates from 1732: a long portico, an airy loggia and gigantic statues on top, with a Christ among saintly bishops of East and West.
The central door comes from the Curia Julia, the ancient seat of the Senate in the Forum, and was adapted by Borromini. Inside, in the niches of the nave's pillars, stand the twelve apostles: monumental sculptures by artists such as Pierre Legros and Camillo Rusconi. Underfoot survives the Cosmatesque floor of the medieval basilica.
At the crossing of nave and transept rises the papal altar, topped by the Gothic ciborium of Giovanni di Stefano, from 1370, with the reliquaries of the heads of Saints Peter and Paul. In the apse is a huge mosaic restored in 1292, with Pope Nicholas IV kneeling before the Virgin.
The cloister, with the Vassalletto family's little Cosmatesque columns, is a corner of peace: at 36 meters a side, it is the largest in Rome. Outside, in the square, stands the Lateran obelisk, of red granite and over 32 meters tall: it arrived from Egypt in 357 and was raised again in 1588.
Next door is the octagonal baptistery, founded by Sixtus III, which for generations was the only one in Rome and served as a model for others all over Italy. A short distance away is the Scala Santa, which the faithful believe to be the staircase of Pilate's praetorium, brought to Rome by Helena, mother of Constantine.
Founded by Constantine on land of the Laterani family, hence its name, the basilica was for almost a thousand years the center of the popes' power, who lived in the palace beside it. On February 22, 1300, Boniface VIII proclaimed the first Jubilee here.
Here, at the end of the 9th century, the macabre trial of Pope Formosus took place: the corpse was dug up, dressed in the vestments and set on a throne to answer the charges. The verdict declared him unworthy and the body ended up in the Tiber. In 896 an earthquake brought down the roof of the central nave, and many saw it as divine punishment.
Fires and earthquakes wounded it many times. In the mid-1600s Innocent X called in Francesco Borromini, who renewed the interior while keeping the five aisles and the coffered ceiling. In 1880-1886 Leo XIII had the apse enlarged.
Don't miss
• The twelve apostles.
• The Gothic ciborium.
• The apse mosaic.
• The cloister.
• The baptistery.
Did you know?
• The basilica and the buildings around it are in Italy, but they enjoy extraterritoriality, under the full jurisdiction of the Holy See.
• A legend has Constantine baptized in the baptistery: in reality he was baptized in the East.