Santa Maria Maggiore, Rome


	Santa Maria Maggiore Although cloaked in an 18th-century façade, this church was founded in AD 432 and retains the classical proportions of the original basilica. The floor is a 12th-century Cosmati mosaic, and the coffered ceiling is said to be gilded in the first gold brought back from the Americas. Above the Ionic columns of the nave and covering the triumphal arch behind the high altar are some of the finest Early Christian mosaics in Rome, from the 5th century. The simple tomb of Bernini, the great architect, is situated near the right side of the altar of the Pauline Borghese Chapel, while Pope Sixtus V's tomb rests in the Sistine Chapel (yes, a different one). Address: Piazza di Santa Maria Maggiore Rome Italy Telephone: +39 (6) 48-31-95