Papal Basilica of St. John Lateran

8176 km

4 P.za di S. Giovanni in Laterano Roma

Papal Basilica and first church constructed after legalization of Christianity. Seat of the Bishop of Rome - the Pope

Known in Italian as San Giovanni Laterano, this is the odlest of the four major basilicas in Rome, which include St. Peter's Basilica, St. Mary Major, and St. Paul Outside the Walls. The property originally belonged to the Lateran family, and was inherited by Constantine's wife, Fausta. Emperor Constantine then donated it to Pope Miltiades I after the legalization of Christianity around the year 311.

The papal basilica to this day is the cathedral of Rome and official ecclesiastical seat of the Bishop of Rome. It was the papal residence until the Avignon Papacy. Pope Martin V, the pontiff who brought the papacy back to Rome, is buried before the main altar.

The relics of the heads of St. Peter and Paul are located in the ciborium above at the center of the church. Tradition holds that a large relic of a table on the left side of the church was the table on which Jesus and the apostles celebrated the Last Supper.