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Santa Maria Maggiore is an ancient Romanesque
Comune of Tuscania
Santa Maria Maggiore is an ancient Romanesque basilica
In Ancient Roman architecture, a basilica is a large public building with multiple functions, typically built alongside the town's Forum (Roman), forum. The basilica was in the Latin West equivalent to a stoa in the Greek East. The building ...
church located at the foot of ''Colle di San Pietro'' (St Peter Hill) in Tuscania
Tuscania is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Viterbo, Lazio Region, Italy. Until the late 19th century the town was known as Toscanella.
History
Antiquity
According to the legend, Tuscania was founded by Aeneas' son, Ascanius, whe ...
, Province of Viterbo
Viterbo ( it, provincia di Viterbo) is a province in the Lazio region of Italy. Its capital is the city of Viterbo.
Geography
Viterbo is the most northerly of the provinces of Lazio. It is bordered to the south by the Metropolitan City of Rome ...
, Region of Lazio
it, Laziale
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, Italy
Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...
. Atop the hill is the Basilica of San Pietro.
History
A church named ''Santa Maria Maggiore'' is first documented here in a Papal bull from the year 852 from Pope Leo IV to the Bishop of Tuscania. Records of a consecration date to 1206. The church has been reconstructed many times over the centuries. The facade has three distinctive and finely decorated medieval portals. The central one is flanked by two spiral-fluted marble columns nestled on two "lion" bases, and topped by an animal figure. These enclose four thinner columns receding backward, each with their individual capital, generallyCorinthian Corinthian or Corinthians may refer to:
*Several Pauline epistles, books of the New Testament of the Bible:
**First Epistle to the Corinthians
**Second Epistle to the Corinthians
**Third Epistle to the Corinthians (Orthodox)
*A demonym relating to ...
in appearance but some contain human figures. In the pilasters flanking the door stand two figures of the Apostles Peter and Paul, partly rebuilt after an act of vandalism. In the lunette are rectangular bas-reliefs, somewhat haphazardly assembled, depicting the ''Madonna and Child Blessing'' and images of ''Balaam
Balaam (; , Standard ''Bīlʿam'' Tiberian ''Bīlʿām'') is a diviner in the Torah ( Pentateuch) whose story begins in Chapter 22 of the Book of Numbers (). Ancient references to Balaam consider him a non-Israelite, a prophet, and the son o ...
'', the ''Sacrifice of Isaac
The Binding of Isaac ( he, , ), or simply "The Binding" (, ), is a story from Genesis 22 of the Hebrew Bible. In the biblical narrative, God tells Abraham to sacrifice his son, Isaac, on Moriah. As Abraham begins to comply, having bound Is ...
'', and the ''Agnus Dei
is the Latin name under which the " Lamb of God" is honoured within the Catholic Mass and other Christian liturgies descending from the Latin liturgical tradition. It is the name given to a specific prayer that occurs in these liturgies, and ...
-like archetype''. The right portal is decorated with classically inspired foliage, while the arch on the left one features an ornament of the Sicilian-Norman style. At the top is spread between a lion and a griffin, the loggia above the entrance has nine columns and ten arches.
The semicircular apse is covered by pilasters and bands of arches. The interior has columns and pillars with romanesque capitals also carved with plant and zoomorphic motifs. Along the walls of the aisles are blind arches that enclose blind arcades of half-pillars. The sanctuary is flanked by two transverse arches; the frontal of the altar, surmounted by a Gothic ciborium. There is a bishop's chair, which consists of a parapet of the eighth and ninth centuries.
In the right aisle is located a 13th-century octagonal baptismal immersion pool. In the nave is a pulpit of the thirteenth century. The apse contains a 13th-century fresco depicting ''Twelve Apostles''; a 14th-century fresco in the chancel arch of the apse depicts ''San Secondiano'' and the ''Last Judgement''. This has been attributed to Gregorio and Donato D'Arezzo. One belltower dates to the 12th-century. The church is property of the a Ministry for Architectural Structures of the Province of Rome, Rieti and Viterbo.References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Maria Maggiore, Tuscania Churches completed in 1206 13th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in Italy Churches in the province of Viterbo Romanesque architecture in Lazio