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| “CHRISTIAN ROME”: The Visits |
| BASILICA OF SAINT JOHN AND
THE BAPTISTERY |
Duration: 2 hours
Beginning of Itinerary: Line B “St. Paul”, Stop
15 (Piazza Porta San Giovanni in Laterano) |
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| Enter into the oldest church in the Western
hemisphere, the mother and model for all of the churches
of Rome and of the world. It remained the papal residence
for more the one thousand years up until the 14th century.
It was constructed by Constantine in appreciation for
the protection he received from God in 312 A.D. on the
vigil of the battle against Massenzio. He then donated
it to Pope Melchiade. It is for this reason that it has
a title that is unique in the world. It is the “Sacrosancta
Lateranensis Ecclesia Omnium Urbium et Orbis Ecclesiarum
Mater et Caput,” that is, “The most holy Lateran
church, mother and head of all of the churches of all
of the cities of the world”. Next to the Basilica
stands the patriarchate that is the official residence
of the Pope. Upon their return from France in 1377, the
pontiffs shifted their residence to the Vatican. It was
in this basilica that Boniface VIII gave the solemn pronouncement
of the first Jubilee in history looking out from the Balcony
of Blessings in 1300, as recalled by a fragment of one
of Giotto’s frescoes conserved within the basilica.
Here, Martin V instituted, for the first time for the
Jubilee of 1423, the opening ceremony of the Holy Door,
later extended to the other Roman basilicas. The Basilica
of the Most Sacred Redeemer and of Saints John the Baptist
and John the Evangelist was also called “golden”
for its decorations. See, among other things, the great
papal altar with its precious ciborium, the apsidal mosaics,
the beautiful transept frescoes depicting the stories
of Constantine and the medieval cloister, one of the greatest
artistic masterpieces of its style. Visit next to the
basilica, Saint John at the Font, the church’s first
official baptistery built in 322 A.D. with its beautiful
baptismal font. |
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