Basilica · Italy / Vatican

Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore

Rome, Italy

"The Papal Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore — St Mary Major — is the greatest Marian basilica in Rome and on..."

Highlights

1The greatest Marian basilica in Rome — dedicated to Our Lady since 352 AD Contains relics of the manger of Bethlehem in a crystal reliquary beneath the high altar
2The nave ceiling is gilded with the first gold brought from the Americas by Columbus The 5th-century mosaics are among the earliest surviving Christian narrative mosaics in the world
3Pope Francis was buried here in 2025, before the Salus Populi Romani icon

Getting There

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Address

Piazza di Santa Maria Maggiore, 00185 Roma, Italy

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Directions

Metro Line A to Termini (5-minute walk) or Line B to Termini. Bus 40, 70, 71 serve the area. Central Rome location near Roma Termini station.

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Timings

Current time — Rome Time (CET)

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When	Hours	Note
Basilica	7:00 AM - 7:00 PM
Loggia of the Blessings and Mosaic Museum	9:30 AM - 6:30 PM

; ticket required Entry to the basilica is free. The Loggia and Museum require tickets. The August 5 rose petal ceremony is the most spectacular annual event. The tomb of Pope Francis draws increasing numbers of pilgrims.

Masses & Events

Daily Mass

7, 8, 9, 10 AM; 11:30 AM (Sung Mass); 12:30, 5:30, 6:30 PM

Active schedule Feast of the Dedication (Snowfall): August 5 — White rose petals fall from the ceiling; outdoor concert on the piazza [OUTDOOR] Christmas

Crib Veneration

December 25 - January 6

The Bethlehem manger relics are specially venerated

Must See

The Bethlehem Manger Relic

Crypt below the main altar (Cripta del Presepe) A crystal reliquary containing wood from the manger of Bethlehem is venerated in the crypt accessible from the nave. Whether or not the historical attribution is certain, the devotion it has generated for seventeen centuries is itself a fact: pilgrims have knelt before this relic since the 5th century, praying over the wood that tradition says cradled the infant Christ. The 5th-Century Nave Mosaics

Above the nave colonnade The 40 mosaic panels running the length of both sides of the nave, dating from 432-440 AD, depict scenes from the life of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, and Joshua. These are among the oldest surviving Christian narrative mosaics in the world, made within decades of the Council of Ephesus (431 AD) which declared Mary Theotokos — Mother of God.

The Golden Ceiling

Above the nave The gilded coffered ceiling of the nave, added in the 16th century, was the gift of Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain to Pope Alexander VI Borgia, and was made with the first gold brought from the Americas. The gold that came from the New World was dedicated, in the first instance, to the Mother of God. The irony is complex and the gold is real.

The Salus Populi Romani Icon

The Pauline Chapel, left of the nave This ancient Byzantine icon

Protectress of the Roman People — is one of the most venerated images in Rome. Pope Francis visited it before and after every journey abroad, returning to pray before it on his return to Rome. His grave is immediately adjacent.

The Tomb of Pope Francis

Near the Salus Populi Romani Chapel (from 2025) Pope Francis, who died in 2025, was buried here in accordance with his own wish

before the icon of Salus Populi Romani, which he loved above all others. His grave is simple. The pilgrims who come to pray before it are already numerous and increasing.

Intentions

Carry these intentions into the Basilica with you — pause at each sacred spot and lift them to God.

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For Our Lady — the Theotokos, Mother of God, whose greatest Roman basilica this is

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For Pope Francis, whose grave is here — for his legacy of mercy, humility, and reform

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For the poor and the marginalised, whose Pope Francis always named

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For the faith of the Church through seventeen centuries of continuous Marian devotion

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For the reconciliation of the Americas — that the gold taken from indigenous peoples may be in some way redeemed

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For families praying at Christmas, when the manger relic is specially venerated

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For those who have loved Rome and the city's faith

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For pilgrims who come to both the greatest and the simplest acts of devotion under the same roof

Reflection

Pope Francis chose to be buried in Santa Maria Maggiore because he loved the Salus Populi Romani icon. He stopped before her coming and going, year after year. The greatest theologian, the most powerful man in Catholic Christendom, and he came to a church to stand before a painted image and say: I am going to Japan / I have come back from Japan. This is what the Marian tradition is for: to give the powerful a place to bow.

Suggested Scripture — John 19:27

From that hour, the disciple took her into his own home.

Read in full on Bible Gateway →

A Pilgrim's Prayer

Salus Populi Romani, Protectress of Rome, image before which the Pope bowed before every journey — receive me too. I am not powerful. I have nowhere dramatic to go from and to return to. But I come, as he came, to stand before you and say: I am in your hands. Take care of where I am going. Bring me home safely. Amen.

The Papal Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore — St Mary Major — is the greatest Marian basilica in Rome and one of the four major basilicas of the Eternal City, alongside St Peter’s, St John Lateran, and St Paul Outside the Walls. It is the oldest church in the Western world dedicated to the Virgin Mary, founded according to tradition in 352 AD following a miraculous apparition of the Virgin to Pope Liberius, with a summer snowfall on the Esquiline Hill marking the site. The feast of the Dedication — August 5 — is celebrated each year by the scattering of white rose petals from the ceiling through an opening, representing the miraculous snow.

Relics and Art

The basilica contains the most important Marian relic in Rome: the Culla di Gesù — the relics of the manger of Bethlehem, preserved in a crystal reliquary in a crypt below the high altar. The 5th-century nave mosaics depicting scenes from the Old Testament and the life of Christ are among the earliest surviving Christian narrative mosaics in the world, and the gold-gilded ceiling of the nave, made from the first gold brought from the Americas by Columbus (gifted by Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain to Pope Alexander VI), is extraordinary.

Pope Francis

In 2025, Pope Francis was buried in this basilica — his wish, announced years before his death. His grave before the Salus Populi Romani icon — his favourite Marian image — makes Santa Maria Maggiore a site of even greater pilgrimage interest for the coming years.