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Santa Maria Maggiore Bethlehem Crypt

Photographer Description of Santa Maria Maggiore Bethlehem Crypt

Panorama showing the crypt and confessio inside Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore in Rome. This picture was taken balancing the camera on a table in the crypt and using very long exposures. The marble decoration here is very opulent.

Santa Maria Maggiore Bethlehem Crypt - Further Information

Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore (Papal Basilica of Saint Mary Major) is the largest church in Rome dedicated to Mary. Now a very popular tourist attraction, this is one of the four papal basilica churches in Rome.

This picture shows the confessio built beneath the Papal altar within the church. Within the confessio is a kneeling statue of Pope Pius IX. The Bethlehem crypt is also here, built to remind visitors of the Nativity Scene and the birth of Jesus. Within the crypt is buried St. Jerome (d.420), a Doctor of the Church and author of the Latin translation of the Bible.

The Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore dates from the 5th century, the time of Pope Sixtus III, and contains many mosaics from that time. Some of the Athenian marble columns supporting the main nave are even older, being recycled from a previous building in Rome. The churches 14th century bell tower is 75m high, making it the highest campanile in Rome.

Address:
Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore
[[4034,Piazza di Santa Maria Maggiore]],
Rome

Travel Directions and Getting There:
Metro: Cavour (B), Termini (A,B), [[4036,Piazza Vittorio E]] (A).

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