Basilica of St. Giovanni in Laterano

After his victory over Maxentius in 312 AD and the Edict of Milan of 313, which proclaimed Christianity the official religion of the Empire, Constantine donated the basilica as an ex voto offering to the African pope Melchiades (311-314 AD). In addition, Constantine donated the adjacent (right) domus ecclesiae which became the Lateran palace and remained the official residence of the popes until their return from Avignon in 1377, at which time the popes took up residence at the Vatican. Still considered the Omnium urbiset orbis ecclesiarum mater et caput (the mother and head of all churches of the city and the world), the Lateran remains the official cathedral of Rome. The facade was designed and built by Alessandro Galilei in 1734-36 and consists of a two-storied portico surmounted by an attic with 16 colossal statues of Christ with Apostles and saints. The pope gives his benediction from the central loggia on Maundy Thursday (The Thursday of Holy Week). Beneath the portico, the bronze central doors were taken from the Curia (Senate) in the Roman Forum.

St. Giovanni in Laterano (interior)

Over 330 feet long with two aisles on either side of the nave, the interior of St. Giovanni preserves its original 4th century (Constantinian) proportions. In 1646-49, however, Innocent X Pamphilj commissioned Borromini to reinforce the failing structure and in so doing redesigned the space as a whole. In the aediculated niches of the massive piers, which encase the original Constantinian verde antico columns, are colossal statues of the Apostles made in the early 18th century. The rich ceiling is by F. Bouolanger and Vico di Raffaile, while the marble pavement is a of Cosmatesque design (13th century).

St. Giovanni in Laterano (cloister)

Off the left transept of the basilica one finds an exquisite 13th century cloister, the masterpiece of Jacapo and Pietro Vassalletto (c.1220-36) and a magnificent example of Cosmatesque Art. The columns, some plain and some twisted, are adorned with mosaics and have varied capitols. Many fragments from the Constantinian basilica are displayed around the cloister walls.