Building: San Giovanni in Laterano.
The full name of the church is 'Archibasilica Sanctissimi
Salvatoris et Sancti Iohannes Baptista et Evangelista in Laterano'
or ‘Arch Basilica of the Holy Redeemer, named after
John the Baptist and St. John the Evangelist in Lateran '.
This Basilica is the bishop’s church or cathedral of
the Diocese of Rome and the Bishop of Rome, the Pope gives
this Basilica the title "orbis Omnium ecclesiarum urbis
et mater et caput"-"Mother and head of all churches
of Rome and the world". It is therefore the most important
Church of the Roman Catholic Church, even more important than
the St. Peter's Basilica.
The area surrounding the church used to be in the hands
of the patrician family Laterani. By marriage the estate came
into the hands of the Emperor Constantine the Great. It was
Constantine who built the San Giovanni in Laterano, in this
area. This Basilica was inaugurated in 324 by Pope Sylvester
I.
The Church has had a turbulent history: the first church
was destroyed by the Vandals, the second by an earthquake
(896), the third by fire (1308 and 1361). The last thorough
conversion was in 1646 when the influential architect Franceso
Borromini was ordered to stabilize the Church and refurbish
it in the Baroque style. A side note: the Lateran Palace,
built as an addition to the Church, was the residence of various
Popes up until 1377 when the official residence of the Pope
changed to be the Vatican. The Popes were crowned here up
until 1870. Inside the church there are many tombs of various
Popes.
