The church is a museum. The oldest Basilica of Rome, San Giovanni, is a historical monument and the most important monument of the history of the church. A place of pious pilgrimage. Tourists are allowed in all the time, but keep in mind that believers from different countries are here and masses are celebrated several times a day in different languages. Yandex is completely stupid, no one will find a place with such a name and such an indication of locations. It's written by Monty - it's just confusing. We are talking about the San Giovanni in Laterano Lateran Basilica and its baptismal chapel. Lateran is the oldest center of Christians in Rome and the whole world, it is the so-called primeval basilica. In November, a special solemn service is held in honor of the consecration of the basilica in 324. What are the mosaics in the altar, at the end of the apse. It is not forbidden to approach and look at it closely if there is no mass. This is exactly a Roman place. The main city cathedral is here and the Romans remember this. Citizens still gather in front of the cathedral at the Lateran for the holidays, on May Day there are gatherings here and then a march through the city. The medieval Papal Palace was originally here, but after the Avignon captivity of the popes, the newly elected pontiff moved his residence to the Vatican, closer to his ancestral Roman center. Although the Vatican is much more touristic, the Lateran is obligatory to visit, pilgrims also certainly come to the Lateran. Now there is a large-scale reconstruction of the adjacent territory for the jubilee- the holy year of absolution. For a long time now, for security, the entrance to the cathedral is only on one side, and it is necessary to pass a check on the metal detector tape. It usually takes almost no extra time, everything is clear. It is better to come during services that are held almost constantly in different languages: if not in the main space of the altar, then on additional altars. The baptisms of the converts were performed in a separate building-the baptistery. You will definitely visit the baptistery.

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Игорь А/С

Level 25 Local Expert

The Cathedral is the first and most important in the Catholic hierarchy, as evidenced for several centuries by the inscription above the entrance to the Cathedral: "SACROS LATERAN ECCLES OMNIUM URBIS ET ORBIS ECCLESIARUM MATER ET CAPUT" ("The Holy Lateran Church is the mother and head of all churches in the city and the world"). As you know, the Pope has been in the Vatican for almost 700 years, but in the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist on the Lateran Hill there is a pulpit of the Pope (Papal throne). The impressions of visiting the Cathedral were huge!

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