The st Peter's basilica in Rome is one of the most popular churches in the world mainly because it is the main church used by the Bishop of Rome, the Pope and because of its ancient history as it is believed to be the burial place of st Peter the apostle. With the popularity of st Peter's basilica, people don't know that there are about 4,000 other churches in Rome and inenof them is the amazing *Basilica di santa maria maggiore *
The construction of the church was ordered by pope liberius who was visited by the virgin mary in his dream where ahe instructed him to build the church through a snow fall that happened on the esquillino hill and this is how the church got its first name St mary ad nives(of the snow). it was also called santa maria liberiana for pope liberius and St mary of the nativity because of the relic it received of the Holy nativity.
The church was built by pope sixtus III in the fifth century and later modified by pope Nicholas IV in the late 13th century. Pope Sixtus V and pope paul V built the two chapels (sistine and paoline) between the 16th amd 17th century. The mosaic done by filippo rusuti in the 13th century depicting the appearance of Mary to pope liberius in the dream has been masked by many reconstructions done on the basilica but is still intact.
The interior of the basilica is a beauty to behold with the elegant mosaic on the arch anf the central nave.
The central Nave
The floor which is in Cosmati style was a present from Knight scoto paparone and his son
The ceiling which is gold gilded is owed to Guiliano dan Sangallo.
The panels underneath the windows have mosaics representing stories from the old testament. The stories of Moses and Joshua are on the right hand side with the stories of Abraham, Jacob and Isaac on the left.
*mosaic representing stories from the old testament *
The golden altar has the tomb of the great architect Gian Lorenzo Bernini on the right along with relics of the manger where mary laid the baby jesus, the 13th century nativity scene and the baptistery.
The altar
The church is one of the four Patriarchal Basilicas in Rome alongside St Peter's basilica, the basilica of St Paul outside the walls and the Archbasilica of St John Lateran. The basilica is open everyday from 7am to 7pm