Description
The Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore is one of Rome's four papal basilicas, on the Esquiline Hill. It is the only basilica in Rome to have kept its early Christian structure, even if enriched over the centuries by works of every era.
Inside, the 5th-century mosaics stand out: along the nave the stories of the Old Testament, the first figurative cycle to appear in a Roman church, of which 27 panels remain; on the triumphal arch the childhood of Christ, with an episode from the apocryphal Gospels: the idols of the Egyptian city of Sotinen fall to the ground as the Child passes.
Higher up, the gilded coffered ceiling commissioned by Rodrigo Borgia, with his coat of arms at the center. The nave is divided from the side aisles by ancient reused columns.
Two grand chapels face each other: the Sistine Chapel, commissioned by Sixtus V and designed by Domenico Fontana, with polychrome marbles and columns from the Septizodium, and the Pauline Chapel, of Paul V, on a Greek-cross plan as big as a small church, which holds the icon of the Salus Populi Romani.
Under the papal altar, in the Confessio, a crystal reliquary keeps the relics of the Nativity crib. In the basilica's museum you see the statues of the nativity scene by Arnolfo di Cambio, from 1292, and the rooms dug under the floor, with traces of frescoes relating to an agricultural calendar.
Outside, the Romanesque bell tower, 75 meters high, rules the hill and is the tallest in Rome. The basilica has two facades: the main one, with the portico and the Loggia of the Blessings, is by Ferdinando Fuga (1741-43); on the other side, toward Piazza dell'Esquilino, is Rainaldi's 17th-century apse.
A snowfall in the height of summer, on August 5, on the Esquiline. According to tradition, the Madonna had announced it in a dream to Pope Liberius, who traced in the snow the outline of the new church. Every year, on that day, a cascade of white petals falls from the ceiling.
The legend dates from the 4th century, but today's basilica was built by Sixtus III from 432, after the Council of Ephesus proclaimed Mary the Mother of God. Then every era added something: the apse and mosaic of the 1200s, the ceiling of the 1400s, the grand chapels of the 1500s and 1600s.
Eight popes rest here, and since 2025 Pope Francis too, buried at his own wish along the left aisle, near the altar of St. Francis of Assisi. Bernini is buried here with a simple inscription on the step next to the high altar.
Don't miss
• The 5th-century mosaics.
• The gilded ceiling.
• The Pauline Chapel.
• Arnolfo's nativity scene.
• The tomb of Pope Francis.
Did you know?
• The gold of the ceiling, tradition says, was the first to arrive from the Americas, donated by the King of Spain.
• The King of Spain is still an honorary canon of the basilica's chapter.
• The Sforza Chapel, at the end of the 1500s, was executed to a design by Michelangelo.
Inside, the 5th-century mosaics stand out: along the nave the stories of the Old Testament, the first figurative cycle to appear in a Roman church, of which 27 panels remain; on the triumphal arch the childhood of Christ, with an episode from the apocryphal Gospels: the idols of the Egyptian city of Sotinen fall to the ground as the Child passes.
Higher up, the gilded coffered ceiling commissioned by Rodrigo Borgia, with his coat of arms at the center. The nave is divided from the side aisles by ancient reused columns.
Two grand chapels face each other: the Sistine Chapel, commissioned by Sixtus V and designed by Domenico Fontana, with polychrome marbles and columns from the Septizodium, and the Pauline Chapel, of Paul V, on a Greek-cross plan as big as a small church, which holds the icon of the Salus Populi Romani.
Under the papal altar, in the Confessio, a crystal reliquary keeps the relics of the Nativity crib. In the basilica's museum you see the statues of the nativity scene by Arnolfo di Cambio, from 1292, and the rooms dug under the floor, with traces of frescoes relating to an agricultural calendar.
Outside, the Romanesque bell tower, 75 meters high, rules the hill and is the tallest in Rome. The basilica has two facades: the main one, with the portico and the Loggia of the Blessings, is by Ferdinando Fuga (1741-43); on the other side, toward Piazza dell'Esquilino, is Rainaldi's 17th-century apse.
A snowfall in the height of summer, on August 5, on the Esquiline. According to tradition, the Madonna had announced it in a dream to Pope Liberius, who traced in the snow the outline of the new church. Every year, on that day, a cascade of white petals falls from the ceiling.
The legend dates from the 4th century, but today's basilica was built by Sixtus III from 432, after the Council of Ephesus proclaimed Mary the Mother of God. Then every era added something: the apse and mosaic of the 1200s, the ceiling of the 1400s, the grand chapels of the 1500s and 1600s.
Eight popes rest here, and since 2025 Pope Francis too, buried at his own wish along the left aisle, near the altar of St. Francis of Assisi. Bernini is buried here with a simple inscription on the step next to the high altar.
Don't miss
• The 5th-century mosaics.
• The gilded ceiling.
• The Pauline Chapel.
• Arnolfo's nativity scene.
• The tomb of Pope Francis.
Did you know?
• The gold of the ceiling, tradition says, was the first to arrive from the Americas, donated by the King of Spain.
• The King of Spain is still an honorary canon of the basilica's chapter.
• The Sforza Chapel, at the end of the 1500s, was executed to a design by Michelangelo.