The Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore or 'Church of Saint Mary Major', is a Papal church and the largest Catholic Marian church in Rome, from which size it receives the appellation "major". The ancient basilica enshrines the venerated image of Salus Populi Romani, depicting the Blessed Virgin Mary as the health and protectress of the Roman people, which was granted a Canonical coronation by Pope Gregory XVI on 15 August 1838 accompanied by his Papal bull Cælestis Regina.
Pursuant to the Lateran Treaty of 1929 between the Pope and Italy, the Basilica is within Italian territory and not the territory of the Vatican City State. However, the Holy See fully owns the Basilica, and Italy is legally obligated to recognize its full ownership "the immunity granted by International Law to the headquarters of the diplomatic agents of foreign States." Situated on the summit of the Esquiline Hill, St. Mary Major is the only patriarchal basilica of the four in Rome to have retained its paleo-Christian structures. The Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore is one of Rome’s four Major Basilicas, along with the Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls, St. Peter’s Basilica, and the Archbasilica of St. John Lateran. Its importance is based on its size, age, and the fact that it is the largest church dedicated to the Virgin Mary and also one of the oldest. Tradition has it that the Virgin Mary herself inspired the choice of the Esquiline Hill for the church's construction. Appearing in a dream to both the Patrician John and Pope Liberius, she asked that a church be built in her honor on a site she would miraculously indicate. The morning of August 5th, the Esquiline Hill was covered with a blanket of snow. The pope traced out the perimeter of the basilica in the snow, and John financed the construction of the new church. The Romanesque bell tower, built by Gregory XI after his return from Avignon, rises 75 meters high and is the tallest in Rome. The belfry contains five bells, one of which, "La Sperduta," or "the lost one," rings every evening at nine with its distinctive sound to call the faithful to prayer. To the right upon entering the portico stands a statue of King Phillip IV of Spain, one of the Basilica's benefactors. The central door is made of bronze and was cast by Ludovico Pogliaghi in 1949, displaying episodes from the life of Mary framed by images of Prophets, Evangelists and the four women of the Old Testament who prefigure the Blessed Virgin. To the left stands the new Holy Door, blessed by John Paul II on December 8, 2001. The right panel of the Holy Door shows the Resurrected Christ modelled after the image on the Shroud of Turin, who appears to Mary, represented here as Salus Populi Romani. In the upper left corner lies a representation of the Annunciation at the Well, a story drawn from apocryphal Gospels, while on the right there is an image of Pentecost. The lower corners display on the left, the Council of Ephesus which proclaimed Mary as THEOTOKOS, Mother of God and on the right, the Second Vatican Council which declared MaryMater Ecclesiae or Mother of the Church. The Papal coat-of-arms of John Paul II, as well as his motto Totus Tuus, lies above the door, while the two emblems further down are those of Cardinal Carlo Furno, archpriest of the Basilica in 2001, and of the Order of the Holy Sepulchre. The spiritual and sentimental image of the reconstruction of the "Crib" in remembrance of the venerated event of Christ's birth, originated in 432 when Pope Sixtus III (432-440) created, within the primitive Basilica, a "cave of the Nativity" similar to that in Bethlehem. Numerous pilgrims returning to Rome from the Holy Land, brought back precious fragments of the Holy Crib (cunambulum), which are now kept in the golden Confessional shrine. During the following centuries several popes took care of Sixtus III's Holy Cave, until Pope Nicolò IV in 1288 commissioned a sculpture of the "Nativity" by Arnolfo di Cambio. Many changes and reconstructions took place in the basilica. When Pope Sixtus V (1585-1590) wished to erect the large Chapel of the Blessed Sacrament or Sistina in the right nave, he ordered the architect Domenico Fontana to transfer, without dismantling, the ancient "cave of the Nativity" with its surviving elements of Arnolfo di Cambio's sculpture. The three Magi, dressed in elegant vestments and shoes in a rough gothic style, and Saint Joseph admire with a sense of wonder and reverence the miracle of the Baby in the Virgin Mary's arms (of P. Olivieri) warmed by the ox and the donkey. Although its architectural details span more than a thousand years, its main layout remains unchanged from when it was first built in the 5th century, making it one of the finest surviving examples of an early Christian church. Inside it’s packed with artistic and religious treasures. Aside from various relics, jaw-dropping stone-work, and the tomb of Gian Lorenzo Bernini, the church’s main draws are its invaluable 5th-century mosaics depicting various scenes from the Old Testament. Santa Maria Maggiore’s most prized relics are fragments of the manger or crib used to hold Jesus Christ when he was born. These are kept in a crystal reliquary under the high altar known as the Crypt of the Nativity. A museum below the church contains Roman remains that were found here in the 18th century, including a section of Roman road, a mosiac pavement, two wells, a series of arches and narrow passages cut into the bedrock.
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