Post: Basilica Santa Maria di Maggiore and Antiquities of Rome plus Gelato 2x

This is how they tell the story when you book a Vatican guide for the Basilica Santa Maria Maggiore. Once upon a time (August 5, 358) Pope Liberius and the husband, Giovanni, of a patrician couple who were childless (but praying hard to Mary) had the very same dream. In the dream, Mary asked both Pope Liberius and Giovanni to build her a church on the highest of Rome’s seven hills. To be sure there was no mix up about which hill that was, Mary sent a summer snow the very next morning.

The old basilica was was replaced by Pope Sixtus III in the 430s and there is not much evidence (maybe none) of the original basilica. It is known that the site held a temple to Juno, so the main Christian woman replaced the main female goddess on the same property.

Our Vatican guide explained that the Sacred Door will be opened for the second time this millennium, in 2025. People are already reserving their chance to walk through the door for a special blessing.

The door we entered through did not confer special blessings, that we know of, but it was flanked by impressive angels.

On this tour we were able to walk upstairs near the area of the papal apartments to see amazing mosaics on the balcony above the entry. They can barely be glimpsed from the street but are impressive when looking at them from the balcony.

We also saw the Bernini staircase, an engineering marvel that was a service stair. It makes a marble spiral with no other support apparent.

The main chapel is highly decorated. Subsequent popes have commissioned their own decoration. The coffered ceiling is gold, and our guide proudly told us, the gold is real gold, not gold leaf:

The gold came from South America and was given as a gift from a King of Spain with the first gold Columbus brought back from the new world. I think the gold should come with something like a land acknowledgement: “The gold in this ceiling was brought to Europe after being forcefully taken from the people of South America, who also lost their land and health to produce it.”

The Borgia’s are responsible for the ceiling and their coat of arms is in the center. Once a year, in August, a mass is said and one of the squares opens up so that white petals can float down on the people, like the summer snow that inspired the building.

The interior also contains a reliquary with wooden pieces of the manger. The wood is sycamore and apparently has been dated to “around” the time of Jesus’ birth. This part of the church was absolutely full of people. The wood is now resting in rock crystal, and the reliquary is quite a a piece of work.

In front of the reliquary is a very large statue of Pope Pius IX, commissioned by a later pope, Leo XIII. There’s an option to add masses, and the costs are written on a sign with the envelopes for your money readily available.

I can’t imagine how busy this basilica must be on a summer day. It was pretty busy today. There are confessionals lining the sides, with priests available who speak different languages. One of the chapels held two masses, just in the time we visited.

A lot of Catholic customs and iconography are very familiar to me. Over my life I’ve been moved by how much all the symbols and miracles mean to so many. In the past, I’ve also felt grateful for the art and music. There were lots of people visiting so clearly, the whole experience is still meaningful to millions.

I had trouble getting past the fact that so much wealth is concentrated here. I saw one offering box for the poor, but two for the basilica itself. The Vatican should be able to afford the upkeep without extra coins; even if it had to sell some of the treasury. Next week we’ll visit the Vatican and I’m bracing myself for more of the same.

The basilica is, not surprisingly, the home of the very first nativity. Carved in marble, some of the pieces are missing, but it sits in a corner, on the other side of the Porto Santo.

The bookstore used to be a chapel to St. Michael. It still has a really interesting mosaic tile floor:

We bought tickets for gelato in the bookstore! A gelato maker has permission to sell special ice cream, again, in honor of that long ago August snow. It is very refreshing: vanilla with lemon, orange, ginger and tiny merengue crunch pieces. I’ll bet that August snow was sleet.

in the afternoon we visited Palazzo Massimo, a museum that holds 1/3 of Rome’s ancient art. It was the most interesting ancient art viewing I’ve experienced. The interpretation on the audio tour was very clear, and perhaps because the museum holds large pieces, my understanding of the timeline was so much better than it usually is.

Here’s a nice list of the main emperors, and here are photo portraits of many of their statues:

I felt like I was in a national portrait gallery more than in an art museum.

The third floor could be called “Ancient Roman Decorative Arts,” and has the amazing living room of Livia. Livia was married to Caesar Augustus (Octavian), and she was deified after her death. The living room was painted with frescoes to look like a garden. It was thought to have been partially underground so that it remained cool in the summer, and this may account for why it was so well preserved.

I wish they could have a simulation to show what the room might have looked like when the color was newer.

I also loved some of the floor mosaics that are on display, mounted now on the walls. They look like quilts.

They look this beautiful, 2000 years or so after they were made and used! I wish there had been more information about them.

After the museum, we took a walk for gelato. Yes, twice in one day; the holy gelato and the secular.

The secular really upped the game. The gelateria is called Come I’ll Latte. It was pretty busy, pretty friendly, and really good:

Dinner was a late one, at a restaurant called Cotte (which means ‘cooked’). We ate ricotta balls surrounded by zucchini blossoms, fennel & orange salad, squid ink pasta with mussels, and a Roman style pizza.