Santa Maria Maggiore

Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore (Saint Mary). It was built from 1137 on the site of a previous religious edifice from the 7th century, which in turn had been erected over a Roman temple. In 1185 the high altar was consecrated and in 1187 the presbytery and part of the transept were finished. Construction lasted until the 15th century, while the bell tower was built 1436-1459. Of this first edifice remains the external Romanesque structure and the Greek cross plan, while the interior was widely modified in the 16th and 17th centuries. The transept has a fresco by Giotto (1347), depicting the Tree of Life. Noteworthy are the presbitery, the great Crucifix portraying the Painful Christ and the tomb of Gaetano Donizetti. The dome has frescoes by Giovanbattista Tiepolo.