Patrizi Chapel

• The inscription from 1610-1611 notes that this is where the Patrizi family are buried. They are supposed descendants of the patrician Giovanni. In 352, Mary was said to have appeared to Giovanni in a dream to indicate a miraculous snowfall on a hill where he was to build a church. He went to tell Pope Liberius of his dream but Mary had also appeared to him and said to look for snow on the Esquiline hill. After finding snow there they built the Basilica Liberiana. This is where S. Maria Maggiore now stands. Although, this story is not documented until medieval times, there is mention of a Basilica Liberiana at the time of Pope Damasus I (366-384)