The Rome IndexSanta Maria Maggiore
One of Rome's four major basilicas — with the city's finest early Christian mosaics.
The mosaics
The 5th-century nave mosaics at Santa Maria Maggiore are among the oldest and best-preserved early Christian mosaics in existence — depicting scenes from the Old Testament in a colour palette that has barely faded in 1,600 years.
The Sistine Chapel (the other one)
The Sistine Chapel within Santa Maria Maggiore — built by Pope Sixtus V, not the Vatican one — contains the tomb of the pope who commissioned the Vatican's Sistine Chapel ceiling. An early source of confusion, worth knowing before you arrive.
Practical notes
Free to enter, a five-minute walk from Termini station, and rarely crowded compared to the major tourist sights nearby — a good first or last stop on a day using Termini as a base.