Rome – The Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore is a early Marian Catholic basilica in Rome. It is one of the four major or four papal basilicas see, with San Lorenzo outside the Walls, formerly known as the basilicas “patriarchal Five” of Rome, together with the five former Christian patriarchal (see Pentarchy).
The three other papal basilicas or grandparents are St. Saint john Lateran, St. St. peter the apostle and St. Paul away the Walls. The Liberian Basilica (another title for the church) is one of tituli headed by a boss-in this case Pope Liberius to the home of many early Christian congregations in Rome. Santa Maria Maggiore is the only Roman roman basilica that maintained much of its master structure, left intact despite several additional structure projects and the damage caused aside the quake in 1348.
Church’s name reflects the size of two ideas (“high”), a large (or papal) basilica and the largest (major) church in Rome dedicated to the Virgin Mary.
After the Avignon Papacy formally over, and the pope returned to Rome, the Basilica became a temp palace of the Popes due to the deteriorating state of the Lateran Palace. residence of the Pope then moved to what is now the Vatican Palace, Vatican City.
Santa Maria Maggiore has been completely restored and renovated in the 18th century, the front and most of his time to the interior decoration of this period. Today, the church is served by the Redemptorists and the Dominican Fathers and remains very popular with tourists and pilgrims.
The fabled miracle of snow was represented by Masaccio and Masolino in 1423 around a triptych accredited for the church by a member of the Colonna family, which is now preserved in the Museo di Capodimonte, Naples. This document is the testimony of the miracle represented by a multitude of holy men and women, Jesus and the Virgin Mary above. Local Catholics commemorate the miracle on apiece anniversary by falling white rose petals from the dome during the feast mass.
