BASILICA OF SANTA MARIA ANTIQUA

The Most Holy Patriarchal Basilica of Santa Maria Antiqua was likely established around A.D. 600 by Pope St. Gregory I the Great (590-604). The church itself stands in the Roman Forum and was restored several times. Pope John VII used the basilica in the early 8th century as See of the bishop of Rome. The basilica was partially destroyed in the year 847, when an earthquake caused parts of the imperial palaces to collapse. Because of the damage, a new church called Santa Maria Nova was built that later was not under direct Papal jurisdiction. Santa Maria Antiqua suffered further damages during the Norman Sack of Rome in 1084. The basilica is the principle historic Roman church of the Papa-Catholicos of Rome-Ruthenia.