Basilica of Our Lady’s in Trastevere

The Basilica of Our Lady’s in Trastevere is quite probably the first church ever to have been dedicated to the Mother of God. A legend claims that a natural oil spring appeared in Piazza di Trastevere as a sign of the Messiah’s birth.

It was then that Pope Callistus had a small church built, and the point of the oil spring was marked in the presbytery with a stone bearing the inscription “Fous Olei”. The church was finally finished when Pope Julius I decided to have it completed and opened for worship.

Pope Hadrian later had the side naves put in, while Pope Gregory IV commissioned work of particular importance in the presbytery. Only later, after much more work, did the basilica attain the size it is now.

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