For other uses, see Santa Maria Maggiore (disambiguation).
Basilica Papale di Santa Maria Maggiore
Papal Basilica of Saint Mary Major
Basilica Sanctae Mariae Maioris
SantaMariaMaggiore front.jpg
The Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore is the largest church in Rome dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary
Basic information
LocationRome, Italy
Geographic coordinates41°53′51″N 12°29′55″ECoordinates: 41°53′51″N 12°29′55″E
AffiliationRoman Catholic Church
RiteLatin
ProvinceDiocese of Rome
Ecclesiastical or organizational statusPapal basilica
LeadershipSantos Abril y Castelló
WebsiteOfficial website
Architectural description
Architectural typeChurch
Direction of façadeSE
Specifications
Length92 metres (302 ft)
Width80 metres (260 ft)
Width (nave)30 metres (98 ft)
Height (max)75 metres (246 ft)
UNESCO World Heritage Site
Official name: Historic Centre of Rome, the Properties of the Holy See in that City Enjoying Extraterritorial Rights and San Paolo Fuori le Mura
TypeCultural
Criteriai, ii, iii, iv, vi
Designated1980[1]
Reference no.91
State Party Italy and Holy See
RegionEurope and North America
The Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore (English: Basilica of St. Mary Major, Latin: Basilica Sanctae Mariae Maioris),[2] or church of Santa Maria Maggiore, is a Papal major basilica and the largest Catholic Marian church in Rome, Italy, from whence size it receives the appellation "major". The Basilica is located at 34 Piazza del Esquilino, some five blocks southwest of Stazione Termini.
Other churches in Rome dedicated to Mary include Santa Maria in Trastevere, Santa Maria in Aracoeli, and Santa Maria sopra Minerva, but the greater size of the Basilica of Saint Mary Major justifies the adjective by which it is distinguished from the other 25.
Pursuant to the Lateran Treaty of 1929 between the Holy See and Italy, the Basilica is within Italian territory and not the territory of the Vatican City State.[3] However, the Holy See fully owns the Basilica, and Italy is legally obligated to recognize its full ownership thereof[4] and to concede to it "the immunity granted by International Law to the headquarters of the diplomatic agents of foreign States".[5]
Contents [hide]
1 Other Appellations
2 Status as a Papal Major Basilica
3 History of the Present Church
4 Architecture
5 Interior
5.1 Fifth century mosaics
5.1.1 Triumphal arch
5.1.2 Nave
6 Crypt of the Nativity and Cappella Sistina
7 Borghese Chapel and Salus Populi Romani
8 Papal basilica
9 Archpriests of the Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore since 1127
10 List of major works of art in the basilica
11 Burials in the church
12 See also
13 Notes
14 References
15 External links
Other Appellations[edit]
The Basilica is sometimes referred to as Our Lady of the Snows, a name given to it in the Roman Missal from 1568 to 1969 in connection with the liturgical feast of the anniversary of its dedication on 5 August, a feast that was then denominated Dedicatio Sanctae Mariae ad Nives (Dedication of Saint Mary of the Snows). This name for the basilica had become popular in the 14th century[6] in connection with a legend that the 1911 Catholic Encyclopedia reports thus: "During the pontificate of Liberius, the Roman patrician John and his wife, who were without heirs, made a vow to donate their possessions to the Virgin Mary. They prayed that she might make known to them how they were to dispose of their property in her honour. On 5 August, at the height of the Roman summer, snow fell during the night on the summit of the Esquiline Hill. In obedience to a vision of the Virgin Mary which they had the same night, the couple built a basilica in honour of Mary on the very spot which was covered with snow. From the fact that no mention whatever is made of this alleged miracle until a few hundred years later, not even by Sixtus III in his eight-line dedicatory inscription ... it would seem that the legend has no historical basis."[7]
The legend is first reported only after AD 1000.[8] It may be implied in what the Liber Pontificalis, of the early 13th century, says of Pope Liberius: "He built the basilica of his own name (i.e. the Liberian Basilica) near the Macellum of Livia".[9] Its prevalence in the 15th century is shown in the painting of the Miracle of the Snow by Masolino da Panicale.[10][Notes 1]
The Blessed Virgin Mary overlooking Pope Liberius as the Pontiff scraped the foundation of the basilica into the snow. By Italian artist Masolino da Panicale. circa 15th-century. Museo di Capodimonte.
The feast was originally called Dedicatio Sanctae Mariae (Dedication of Saint Mary's),[7] and was celebrated only in Rome until inserted for the first time into the General Roman Calendar, with ad Nives added to its name, in 1568.[6] A congregation appointed by Pope Benedict XIV in 1741 proposed that the reading of the legend be struck from the Office and that the feast be given its original name.[7] No action was taken on the proposal until 1969, when the reading of the legend was removed and the feast was called In dedicatione Basilicae S. Mariae (Dedication of the Basilica of Saint Mary).[6] The legend is still commemorated by dropping white rose petals from the dome during the celebration of the Mass and Second Vespers of the feast.
The earliest building on the site was the Liberian Basilica or Santa Maria Liberiana, after Pope Liberius (352-366). This name may have originated from the same legend, which recounts that, like John and his wife, Pope Liberius was told in a dream of the forthcoming summer snowfall, went in procession to where it did occur and there marked out the area on which the church was to be built.[11] Liberiana is still included in some versions of the basilica's formal name, and "Liberian Basilica" may be used as a contemporary as well as historical name.[12]
On the other hand, the name "Liberian Basilica" may be independent of the legend, since, according to Pius Parsch, Pope Liberius transformed a palace of the Sicinini family into a church, which was for that reason called the Sicinini Basilica. This building was then replaced under Pope Sixtus III (432-440) by the present structure dedicated to Mary.[11] However, some sources say that the adaptation as a church of a pre-existing building on the site of the present basilica was done in the 420s under Pope Celestine I, the immediate predecessor of Sixtus III.[13]
Long before the earliest traces of the story of the miraculous snow, the church now known as Saint Mary Major was called Saint Mary of the Crib (Sancta Maria ad Praesepe),[14] a name it was given because of its relic of the crib or manger of the Nativity of Jesus Christ, four boards of sycamore wood believed to have been brought to the church, together with a fifth, in the time of Pope Theodore I (640-649).[15][16] This name appears in the Tridentine editions of the Roman Missal as the place for the pope's Mass (the station Mass) on Christmas Night,[17] while the name "Mary Major" appears for the church of the station Mass on Christmas Day.[18]
Status as a Papal Major Basilica[edit]
See also: Major basilica and minor basilica
Map by Giacomo Lauro and Antonio Tempesta depicting Saint Mary Major among the Seven Pilgrim Churches of Rome in 1599, in view of the Holy Year of 1600.
No Catholic church can be honoured with the title of "basilica" unless by apostolic grant or from immemorial custom.[19] St. Mary Major is one of the only four that hold the title of "major basilica". The other three are the Basilicas of St. John in the Lateran, St. Peter's, and St. Paul outside the Walls.[20] (The title of major basilica was once used more widely, being attached, for instance, to the Basilica of St. Mary of the Angels in Assisi.)[21] Along with all of the other four Major Basilicas, St. Mary Major is also styled a "Papal basilica". Before 2006, the four Papal Major Basilicas, together with the Basilica of St. Lawrence outside the Walls were referred to as the "patriarchal basilicas" of Rome,[Notes 2] and were associated with the five ancient Latin patriarchates (see Pentarchy). St. Mary Major was associated with the Patriarchate of Antioch.
The five Papal Basilicas along with the Basilica of the Holy Cross in Jerusalem (actually in Rome) and San Sebastiano fuori le mura were the traditional Seven Pilgrim Churches of Rome, which were visited by pilgrims during their pilgrimage to Rome following a 20 kilometres (12 mi) itinerary established by St. Philip Neri on 25 February 1552, especially when seeking the plenary indulgence during holy years.[22][23][24] For the Great Jubilee of 2000, Pope St. John Paul II replaced the Church of St. Sebastian outside the Walls with the Shrine of Our Lady of Divine Love.
History of the Present Church[edit]
The Piazza and Church of Santa Maria Maggiore, by Giovanni Paolo Pannini
It is agreed that the present church was built under Pope Sixtus III (432-440). The dedicatory inscription on the triumphal arch, Sixtus Episcopus plebi Dei, (Sixtus the bishop to the people of God) is an indication of that Pope's role in the construction.[25] As well as this church on the summit of the Esquiline Hill, Pope Sixtus III is said to have commissioned extensive building projects throughout the city, which were continued by his successor Pope Leo I, the great.[26]
The church retains the core of its original structure, despite several additional construction projects and damage by the earthquake of 1348.
Church building in Rome in this period, as exemplified in Saint Mary Major, was inspired by the idea of Rome being not just the centre of the world of the Roman Empire, as it was seen in the classical period, but the centre of the Christian world.[27]
Santa Maria Maggiore, one of the first churches built in honour of the Virgin Mary, was erected in the immediate aftermath of the Council of Ephesus of 431, which proclaimed Mary Mother of God. Pope Sixtus III built it to commemorate this decision.[28] Certainly, the atmosphere that generated the council gave rise also the mosaics that adorn the interior of the dedication: "whatever the precise connection was between council and church it is clear that the planners of the decoration belong to a period of concentrated debates on nature and status of the Virgin and incarnate Christ."[29] The magnificent mosaics of the nave and triumphal arch, seen as "milestones in the depiction" of the Virgin,[30] depict scenes of her life and that of Christ, but also scenes from the Old Testament: Moses striking the Red Sea, and Egyptians drowning in the Red Sea.
Richard Krautheimer attributes the magnificence of the work also to the abundant revenue accruing to the papacy at the time from land holdings acquired by the Church during the 4th and 5th centuries on the Italian peninsula: "Some of these holdings were locally controlled; the majority as early as the end of the 5th century were administered directly from Rome with great efficiency: a central accounting system was involved in the papal chancery; and a budget was apparently prepared, one part of the income going to the papal administration, another to the needs of the clergy, a third to the maintenance of church buildings, a fourth to charity. These fines enabled the papacy to carry out through the 5th century an ambitious building program, including Santa Maria Maggiore."[31]
Miri Rubin believes that the building of the basilica was influenced also by seeing Mary as a one who could represent the imperial ideals of classical Rome, bringing together the old Rome and the new Christian Rome: "In Rome, the city of martyrs, if no longer of emperors, Mary was a figure that could credibly carry imperial memories and representations."[32]
When the popes returned to Rome after the period of the Avignon papacy, the buildings of the basilica became a temporary Palace of the Popes[citation needed] due to the deteriorated state of the Lateran Palace. The papal residence was later moved to the Palace of the Vatican in what is now Vatican City.
The basilica was restored, redecorated and extended by various popes, including Eugene III (1145–1153), Nicholas IV (1288–92), Clement X (1670–76), and Benedict XIV (1740–58), who in the 1740s commissioned Ferdinando Fuga to build the present façade and to modify the interior. The interior of the Santa Maria Maggiore underwent a broad renovation encompassing all of its altars between the years 1575 and 1630.
Architecture[edit]
Piazza dell'Esquilino with the apse area of Santa Maria Maggiore.
The original architecture of Santa Maria Maggiore was classical and traditionally Roman perhaps to convey the idea that Santa Maria Maggiore represented old imperial Rome as well as its Christian future. As one scholar puts it, “Santa Maria Maggiore so closely resembles a second-century imperial basilica that it has sometimes been thought to have been adapted from a basilica for use as a Christian church. Its plan was based on Hellenistic principles stated by Vitruvius at the time of Augustus.”[33]
Even though Santa Maria Maggiore is immense in its area, it was built to plan. The design of the basilica was a typical one during this time in Rome: “a tall and wide nave; an aisle on either side; and a semicircular apse at the end of the nave.”[27] The key aspect that made Santa Maria Maggiore such a significant cornerstone in church building during the early 5th century were the beautiful mosaics found on the triumphal arch and nave.[citation needed]
The Athenian marble columns supporting the nave are even older, and either come from the first basilica, or from another antique Roman building; thirty-six are marble and four granite, pared down, or shortened to make them identical by Ferdinando Fuga, who provided them with identical gilt-bronze capitals.[34] The 14th century campanile, or bell tower, is the highest in Rome, at 240 feet, (about 75 m.). The basilica's 16th-century coffered ceiling, to a design by Giuliano da Sangallo, is said to be gilded with gold, initially brought by Christopher Columbus, presented by Ferdinand and Isabella to the Spanish pope, Alexander VI.[35] The apse mosaic, the Coronation of the Virgin, is from 1295, signed by the Franciscan friar, Jacopo Torriti. The Basilica also contains frescoes by Giovanni Baglione, in the Cappella Borghese.[citation needed]
The 12th-century façade has been masked by a reconstruction, with a screening loggia, that were added by Pope Benedict XIV in 1743, to designs by Ferdinando Fuga that did not damage the mosaics of the façade. The wing of the canonica (sacristy) to its left and a matching wing to the right (designed by Flaminio Ponzio) give the basilica's front the aspect of a palace facing the Piazza Santa Maria Maggiore. To the right of the Basilica's façade is a memorial representing a column in the form of an up-ended cannon barrel topped with a cross: it was erected by Pope Clement VIII to celebrate the end of the French Wars of Religion.[36]
The Marian column erected in 1614, to designs of Carlo Maderno is the model for numerous Marian columns erected in Catholic countries in thanksgiving for remission of the plague during the Baroque era. (An example is the Holy Trinity Column in Olomouc, the Czech Republic). The column itself is the sole remainder from Constantine's Basilica of Maxentius and Constantine in Campo Vaccino Rome Art Lover website notes that Campo Vaccino as what the Roman Forum was called until the 18th century]. Maderno's fountain at the base combines the armorial eagles and dragons of Paul V.
