Eternal Rome, Italy’s capital
The church of Santa Maria in Trastevere is claimed to be the oldest church dedicated to the Virgin Mary in Rome. A basilica was built here in the 3rd Century CE, but the present church dates from the 12th Century; the rich interior was redecorated during the Baroque period. Inside the church are a number of late 13th-century mosaics by Pietro Cavallini on the subject of the Life of the Virgin (1291) centring on the “Coronation of the Virgin” in the apse.
Photo by Ludo Kuipers, Tue Nov 01, 1994