Roma - Basilica di S.M. Maggiore

Abstract

A photograph of Basilica di S.M. Maggiore (Basilica of Saint Mary Major). As the legend goes, the Virgin appeared to Pope Liberius and patrician Giovanni Patrizio, instructing them to build a church on the Esquiline Hill and that night the floor plan was outlined by a "miraculous snowfall". Over the years the church had a number of names - Santa Maria della Neve (St. Mary of the Snow), Santa Maria Liberiana, Santa Maria Del Presepe (St. Mary of the Crib). It is the largest of 26 churches dedicated to the Virgin Mary.