Hiking Highlight
Recommended by 79 hikers
Saint John the Baptist (also John Baptist), to whom this Roman Episcopal Church (and thus the actual seat of the Pope) is dedicated – alongside John the Evangelist – is – like Saint Joseph – a man on the threshold of the Old and New Testaments. His parents are Zacharias and Elizabeth, and after the announcement of the Incarnation of God through them, the Mother of God visits her relative Elizabeth, who will give birth to a son in old age, namely John the Baptist. He is half a year older than Jesus and is considered his forerunner/pioneer. He lives in the desert, preaches repentance from sin to the Jewish population and baptizes them in the Jordan, where Jesus also comes to be baptized, and is filled with the Holy Spirit who descends upon him from heaven.
The memorial day of John the Baptist (Baptist) in the calendar of saints is June 24, exactly half a year before 'Christmas Eve'.
October 2, 2021
It is located on the same site where Constantine built the basilica back in 314 on the lands of the Lateran family and was the most important church of Christianity, the papal residence and the centre of papal power, until Pope Nicholas III moved his residence.
The current church follows the same lines as the original basilica which was remodelled over the centuries.
The façade dates back to the 18th century and is crowned by fifteen enormous statues of Christ, St John the Baptist, John the Evangelist and doctors of the church.
The interior, redesigned by Borromini in the 17th century, houses twelve altars and statues of the twelve apostles can be seen.
July 2, 2022
The Papal Archbasilica of St. John in Lateran , commonly known as St. John Lateran Archbasilica, St. John Lateran Basilica, St. John Lateran, or simply the Lateran Basilica, is the cathedral church of Rome and therefore houses the cathedra, or ecclesiastical seat, of the Roman Pontiff (the Pope).
It is the oldest of and has precedence among the four papal major basilicas, all of which are in Rome, because it is the oldest church in the West and houses the cathedra of the Roman Pontiff. It has the title of ecumenical mother church of the Roman Catholic faithful.
January 26, 2017
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