St John Lateran, Rome

4 more images

This is a truly beautiful basilica and in my opinion much more pleasant than the more frequently visited St Peters. There are still quite a number of tourists around the place but it's nothing like the crowds heaving inside St Peters. This basilica also looks less... trashy?... than St Peter's. It's still very elaborate and richly decorated but not in the over the top way that some other places in Rome are. The baptistry is a real highlight of any visit here, particularly the ceilings and frescoes in the side chapels. We had looked forward to seeing the cloisters as well but unfortunately the garden was actually being dug up and was cordonned off behind screens which rather ruined the effect.

4 more images

One cold Sunday morning I walked a bit at Appia Nuova when there were no people around, only a nun and a priest that were heading to the church too. I stood for a while on piazza San Giovanni in Laterano where you can see the Lateran Palace, the church and an Egyptian obelisk (31metres high) which was brought here in 357AD from the Thebes, Egypt and it’s the oldest in Rome.

Church San Giovanni in Laterano (St John Lateran) is an impressive basilica which is the cathedral of the bishop of Rome, the Pope, which means it ranks over any other church including St.Peter!
A sign at the entrance informs the visitors in 5 languages (!) that it’s prohibited to enter the Basilica in sleeve-less dresses and in short pants! I checked the statue of Constantine at the end of the portico and I walked inside.
I was surprised by the spacious interior(pic 2), the numerous statues(pic 3) and the Confession next to the High Altar(pic 4). The basilica is dedicated to John the Baptist and John the Evangelist. It was built by Constantine the Great during the 4th century so it was the first church in Rome. It was destroyed in 896 by an earthquake, reconstructed and destroyed again in 1308 by fire, rebuilt, destroyed by fire (again!) in 1360. It was reconstructed and the baroque façade was added in 18th century.

On my way out I took a picture of what left from the old Lateran Palace(pic 5). You can still see the apse of the papal dinining hall(Triclinium Leoninum) on the outside of the remains of the building that Pope Sixtus V demolished at the end of 16th century. The mosaic dates from 800 and shows Christ, the Apostles, Constantine, Pope Sylvester I, St Peter, Pope Leo III and Charlemagne (who was crowned that year in Rome)

4 more images

The Pope is the Bishop of Rome; the seat of the Bishopric is.... a great trivia question! Not San Pietro in the Vatican as I would once have answered, the answer is the Papal Archbasilica San Giovanni in Laterano, wh.ich was the full time Papal locale before St Peter's Square.

Consecrated as a church on 324 AD, it was built on the site of a fort.

Succinctly, this church still runs St Peter's close for splendour and grandeur. Go ! Then when some one syas they went to the Vatican, you can roll your eyes and say that that's just the new gaffe........!

3 more images

The Basilica has two façades very typical of the Baroque Rome. San Giovanni in Laterano looks more like a palace than like a church.
The main one, facing Porta S Giovanno, is from the architect Allessandro Galilei in 1735. It was said in Rome that he got the job because he was from Florence as well as the pope Clement XII.

It is a very suggestive façade combining dark openings and bright columns. The 15 giant statues on top are visible from far away even from the Capitoline Hill. They represent Christ surrounded by St. John Baptist and St. John the Evangelist the co-patrons of the Cathedral and other saints. The statues are 7 m high. It is one of the views of Rome tourists certainly do remember.
The very impressive bronze doors (1st c. AC) are those of the ancient Roman Senate, the "Curia Julia". They were transferred here from the Forum by Pope Alexander VII in 1660.
Left of the entrance in a large statue of the first christian Emperor Constantine I. This statue was once at the Imperial baths on the Quirinal.

If you arrive at the basilica by the opposite side i.e. by the Piazza S. Giovani with the Obelisk you see, on the right of the Palace, the other nice façade by Domenico Fontana (1586).

Open each day from 7 to 18.30 h. Free entrance.

2 more images

The interior lay out and decoration of this basilica reflects the hectic history of San Giovanni in Laterano with rebuilding after disasters. The present appearance of the church dates from the late 17th c. and is a restoration carried out by Innocent X, with Borromini for his architect. The general aspect is rather heterogeneous. The lack of homogeneity is quite visible when entering by the main gate at the nave. The ancient columns were enclosed in huge pilasters, with statues of the Apostles in front. By them selves these gigantic statues in grey marble made by various sculptors in the beginning of the 18th c. are of high quality but the contrast with the beautiful ceiling of 1567 is great.
At the end of the nave the visitor is surprised by the baldachin from 1369, over the high altar, which looks out of place in the baroque surrounding from the nave of Borromini.
The High Altar with its relics as well as the apse merits some special comments in another review.
The pavement with mosaics of the 14th c. by Vassalletto is very nice and of course best admired when there are no benches in the nave like on my visit.

When comparing this basilica with the others like San Pietro, and even more San Paolo fuori le Mura, the visitor will notice the heterogeneity of San Giovanni in Laterano. Best is to focus on each element separately from the others and so enjoy the beauty of the various parts of the church.

Open: 7 - 18.30 h

The oldest of the four great Basilicas and also the cathedral of Rome went through a very hectic history since it was given to the Church (311) by Constantine the first Christian emperor. The not very large original church was dedicated to the Saviour, "Basilica Salvatoris", the dedication to St. John is of a later date (12 th c.).
Thanks to many donations the basilica became so splendid that it was called the "Golden Basilica" and attacked by the Vandals who stripped it of all its treasures. Restored by the Popes in the 5th c. the church was totally destroyed by an earthquake in 896. The new and second church lasted 400 years and burnt down. Rebuilt, the third church burned down once more in 1360.
Twenty popes worked to rebuild, restore, and embellish the Basilica.

It was not until the latter part of the 17th century that the church took its present appearance, in the restoration carried out by Innocent X, with Borromini for architect. Last changes were around 1890 by Pope Leon XIII.
The church has entirely lost the appearance of an ancient basilica, and is completely altered in character. The hectic history results in a heterogeneous décor. Portions of the older buildings still survive and like the baldachin over the high altar don't harmonize with newer parts.
I prefer therefore the basilica of San Paolo Fuori le Mura (ref. my tip) which preserved the ancient basilica character.

A somewhat anecdotic consequence of the history of San Giovani in Laterano is the fact that Kings and, later, Presidents of France are honorary canons of the chapter of the cathedral because the Kings of France, especially Henri IV, gave rights to the chapter. President Sarkozy went to Rome in January 2008 for his enthronisation as honorary canon of Saint John Lateran.

Open: 7 - 18.30 h

1 more image

A major sight which I unfortunately didn't visit is the SANTA SCALA (Holy Stairs), on the other side of the street. The stairs were brought from Jerusalem by St-Helen, mother of Constantin. They are known to be the stairs from the Palace of Pontius Pilatus, which Christ climbed before his death.
They lead to the ancient papal chapel which holds an icon of Christ known as "achiropite" (not made by man, made by an angel.)

The pink granite OBELISK on Piazza del Laterano is the most ancient and the highest in Rome. It was erected by Tuthmosis III fifteen centuries before Christ...
in front of Amun's temple in Thebes, the Egyptian city with a Greek name. :) The obelisk was transported to Rome in 357 and placed on the spina in the middle of Circus Maximus.
That's where it was discovered in 1586! Pope Sixte V had it transferred to Piazza del Laterano. The only pic I have of it includes my tired face but it's better than nothing. This obelisk has to be seen to be believed!

The statue of Constantin himself can be seen in the portico under the main façade. It comes from the Imperial Baths at the Quirinal.

Yet another church and this one is MUST SEE! It is easy to get to, I walked from the Coliseum and saw much of value on the way, so don't hesitate and head for the Basilica San Giovanni in Laterano, you won't be disappointed.

The Basilica is in the SOUTH-EAST part of Rome, near the ruins of Anfiteatro Castrense inside the Aurelian Wall. It's the cathedral of Rome, the Pope is its bishop. The Church belongs to the Vatican and enjoys extra-territorial privileges.

This is the most ancient church of Rome - still known as omnium urbis et orbis ecclesiarum mater et caput (the mother and head of all churches.) Founded by Constantin, who gave it ex-voto to the African Pope Miltiades. -- I have to restrain myself from giving too many details.

To this day, only St. Peter's is bigger in size. Invasions and fires destroyed the original building and the present one is XVIIth century. The interior was done on commission from Pope Innocent X by BORROMINI, who worked on "modernising" the interior, transforming it from medieval to baroque. It's certainly the most monumental church I've seen in Rome, after St.Peter's. Alessandro Galilei did the façade we see today in 1730.

PHOTO OPP: I too the photo of the façade at 12:30 p.m., too late! In the early morning, the façade and statues that decorate it are beautifully lit by the sun.