Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore

Santa Maria Maggiore is one of Rome's four great papal basilicas and the largest church in the city dedicated to the Virgin Mary, standing on the summit of the Esquiline Hill on a site associated with a legendary summer snowfall in 358 AD that is said to have marked out the church's original footprint. Built in its present form in the 5th century following the Council of Ephesus, it preserves, remarkably intact, a cycle of 5th-century mosaics along the upper nave walls and around the triumphal arch, among the oldest and most important surviving mosaic decoration in Rome, depicting Old Testament scenes and early images of the Virgin. The coffered ceiling of the nave, added in the late 15th and early 16th centuries, is lavishly gilded, traditionally said to have used some of the first gold brought back from the Americas, a gift from Spain to the Borgia pope Alexander VI. Beneath the high altar lies the Crypt of the Nativity, said to house relics of Christ's manger. The basilica also holds important side chapels, including the richly decorated Sistine and Pauline Chapels, and in a departure from most papal tradition, Pope Francis chose to be buried here rather than at St Peter's following his death, making his tomb a significant point of pilgrimage. A visit to the church itself takes 45 minutes to an hour; the Loggia delle Benedizioni with its own mosaics and the small basilica museum can be visited for an additional fee. The basilica is free to enter and is within easy walking distance of Termini station, making it a convenient stop for visitors arriving by train. Its exterior lit facade and campanile, the tallest bell tower in Rome, are notable after dark.