Archbasilica Of SS Johns In Lateran

So after Christianity was legalized, Constantine built (or converted) four large basilicas/churches in Rome in the early to mid 4th century: St. John Lateran, St. Mary Maggiore, St. Peters, and St Paul's Without the Walls. The original St. Peter's in gone, replaced by the current one; and St. Paul's was largely but faithfully rebuilt after a fire in the early 19th century. St. John Lateran and St. Mary Maggiore are pretty much the original Roman basilicas, if Baroque'n in later centuries. Apart from the architecture and antiquity, it is the mosaics that are of great age and interest in the two original basilicas. We last visited St. John in 2013, an abbreviated visit, since it was late, they were busy, etc. So while our clothes were being washed Saturday, we took the bus out to the Lateran. A second attraction was the Scala Sancti, the Holy Stairs, which we missed entirely in 2013: next post. Oh yes, the full and official name of this church is: the Archbasilica of the Most Holy Savior and Saints John the Baptist and the Evangelist in Lateran, Mother and Head of All Churches in Rome and in the World. Top that!

And there we are , after a long bus ride; "Lateran" refers not to latitude or latte,
but to the Lateranus family, whose estate Constantine obtained, probably under
some threat, way back in the day; strange how the name Lateran has held on...

St. Peter's and the Vatican get all the attention, but St. John Lateran is still the
oldest of the Papal churches and still the official seat of the Bishop of Rome;
seat, get it?!

The Lateran Piazza features the tallest of Rome's many
Egyptian obelisks; this one a trophy brought home by
Augustus

An old aqueduct nearby...

Anyhow, there's the cathedral, small by Vatican standards, but still pretty big;
interestingly, it's named for both the Johns, the Baptist and the Evangelist; this
is pretty rare, IMHO; in that Revelation was authored by at least three different
hands, it really is a plural St. Johns...

Knave view

Lined, both sides, by super-sized statues of the Apostles, done by Team Bernini

Chancel, etc.

The great half dome and mosaic are dark; but light shines upon
the cathedra of the Bishop of Rome

They were preparing for a celebration, so the lights were out

Organ

In the south transept

A very limited souvenir shoppe (unlike the Vatican, which is
a huge Catholic shopping center)

Nonetheless, St. John's has its amenities, unlike many cathedrals

The humongous bronze doors, originally from the Roman
Senate

Humongous statue of Constantine, outside on the porch; this is 
about all the credit he gets; his mom, St. Helen, got all the
glory; evidently pissed, he never officially converted and
later moved his capital to Constantinople; just a few generations
later, the Christian emperor outlawed all other religions...

We tarried for perhaps an hour; a crowd of very well-dressed people had gathered, 
no children, and so we were hoping for maybe a wedding; wouldn't that be special? 
Alas, there were no children because they were all in a holding tank elsewhere, 
not enduring the lengthy sermon and mass of Confirmation;  here, a nun reads 
scripture; outside, it was pouring down rain, so we tarried further

Holy head-gear and all