Basilica di Santa Maria in Trastevere is a titular minor basilica, one of the oldest churches in Rome, perhaps the first in which mass was openly celebrated. The basic floor plan and wall structure of the church date back to the 340s AD.
The facade and piazza di Santa Maria in Trastevere:
The Romanesque campanile is from the 12th century. Near the top, a niche protects a mosaic of the Madonna and Child.
The mosaics on the facade are probably from the 12th century. They depict the Madonna enthroned and suckling the Child, flanked by ten women holding lamps. This image on the facade showing Mary nursing Jesus is an early example of a popular medieval and renaissance image of the Virgin.
The façade of the church was restored by Carlo Fontana in 1702, who replaced the ancient porch with a sloping tiled roof with the present classicizing one. The octagonal fountain in the piazza in front of the church, appears in a map of 1472, was also restored by Carlo Fontana.
