Basilica

A **basilica** is a large, important church. The word can also be used for an Ancient Roman building that was used for law and meetings. The word "basilica" is Latin which was taken from the Greek "Basiliké Stoà".

Nowadays the word is used in three ways:
- A Roman Catholic church that has been given the right to use that name, by the Pope. Only some large important churches have this right.
- An Ancient Roman basilica
- People who write about architecture often use the word "basilica" to mean a building that is shaped like an Ancient Roman basilica.

### Ancient Rome

A Roman **basilica** was a large hall built for meetings, business and law. A Roman basilica usually had the doors at the long sides of the building. At each end was a semi-circular part where the judges sat. The building usually had two rows of columns, which made a high central part and a lower aisle on either side. The light came in from windows above the columns. As the Roman Empire spread, every city had a basilica.

### Early Christian basilicas

Early in the 4th century (312 AD), the Roman Emperor Constantine made Christianity the legal religion of the Roman Empire. The Christians who had been worshipping secretly in private houses now wanted to build churches. They did not want the churches to look the same as Roman Temples. They built them to look more like Roman Basilicas. A basilica was a good plan for a Christian church because lots of people could fit inside, and the aisles were useful for people to move around. The semi-circular part at one end, the _apse_, was just right to put the altar. Christian basilicas usually have the door at one end, rather than at the side. In front of the door there was often a courtyard called an _atrium_. Most of these atriums have gone, but churches often have a town square or a market place in front of them.

Some of the oldest Early Christian basilicas were four that were begun in Rome by the Emperor Constantine. Three of them are still standing, but they have had many changes in the last 1,700 years. These are the basilicas of _Santa Maria Maggiore_, _St. John Lateran_ and _St. Paul's outside the Walls_. The fourth basilica was _'Old St. Peter's_ which was replaced in the 16th and 17th centuries by the present St. Peter's Basilica. Other Early Christian Basilicas were built in Greece and the Holy Land.

### Present-day basilicas

Some basilicas are called "Ancient Basilicas". These have been called basilicas since Early Christian or Medieval times. It is their traditional name. Ancient Basilicas include _the Church of the Holy Sepulchre_ in Jerusalem, _the Basilica of San Vitale_ in Ravenna and _the Basilica of San Lorenzo_ in Rome. The four other _ancient basilicas_ of Rome are called the "Major Basilicas". Each _Major Basilica_ has a throne for the pope and an altar that is specially for the pope to celebrate mass. No-one else can use that altar without the pope's permission. All the other basilicas are called "Minor Basilicas".

Nowadays, for a church to be called a _Minor Basilica_, it has to be given some special privileges or rights by the pope in a document called a "Papal Brief". When a church has been made a basilica, the clergy then carry some special symbols when they are in procession. In 2008 there were more than 1,600 basilicas in the world.

### Ancient basilicas

Many churches are given the name "basilica" to show that they are special in some way. There are very few ancient basilicas that were built on ground associated with Jesus. They are thought of as some of the holiest Christian sites in the world. These include _the Basilica of the Annunciation_ in Nazareth, _the Basilica of All Nations_ where Jesus prayed on the Mount of Olives and _the Basilica of the Holy Sepulchre_ in Jerusalem. _The Basilica of the Holy Sepulchre_ is very unusual because the church is shared by the Catholic and Orthodox Churches.

### Martyrs

Other ancient basilicas are places where a saint was martyred (put to death). One of these is _the Basilica of Saint Stephen_, the first Christian Martyr, which is also in Jerusalem. There are many ancient basilicas which were built on the place where a saint was buried. In Rome there are many basilicas like this, because Rome was a very big city, with many Christian people. The Emperors thought Christianity was dangerous to them, because Christians put the rules of Jesus before the law of the Emperor. Many Christians were martyred. When Christianity became legal, churches were built over the graves of martyrs. These churches often became known as basilicas, because they were in the shape of a Roman basilica. Basilicas built over tombs of martyrs include _Sant'Agnese outside the Walls_, _San Lorenzo outside the Walls_, and _St. Paul's outside the Walls_. The words "outside the walls" mean that the burial place of the saint was outside the walls of the city.

### Relics

Some basilicas are famous because they have "relics" (or bones or perhaps a body part) of a saint. It could also be the case that the relics were reinterred from the original place.  If a church housed the body of an important saint, then many people would come on pilgrimage and would dedicate themselves to prayer and the use of the sacraments. Basilicas that have bodies include _St. Mark's_, Venice, _St. Nicholas of Bari_, also in Italy, and _the Basilica of St. Mary Magdalene_ in Vezelay, France. Not all relics are bodies. Basilicas may also hold a famous object like a piece of the True Cross, or the belt worn by the Virgin Mary. People often ask whether all these precious relics are authentic. The Roman Catholic Church does not get into arguments about trying to prove whether the pieces of the Cross, the body parts and other things are real. Sometimes the relic is known to be real. Sometimes there is no way to prove it, either way.

### Saints

Other basilicas are churches that were built by a famous saint, were used by a famous saint, or were built to honour the saint, who did not die as a martyr but lived a very holy life. Two of the most famous basilicas of this sort are _the Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi_ and _the Basilica of St. Anthony of Padua_. Many thousands of pilgrims go to these churches every day to remember two saints who were gentle, humble and taught people to live better lives.

### Signs and Miracles

Some basilicas are built because a miracle or special sign took place. The sign might be a vision and might give a plan to build.  _The Basilica of Lourdes_ in France is built at the place where Bernadette Soubirous had a vision of the Virgin Mary. It is an important pilgrimage place.  Sometimes the sign is not so strange as a vision. In the Philippines, _the Basilica del Santo Niño_ was built at the place where a partly burnt box was found in 1565. It contained a little statue of the Christ Child and had been left behind by some Spanish or Portuguese explorers many years earlier. "Santo Niño" means "Holy Child" in Spanish.

### Major basilicas

The four great Basilicas of Rome, as well as having a seat and an altar for the pope, have a _Holy Door_ which is only opened for special occasions such as a Jubilee Year.
- _The Basilica of St. John Lateran_, is also called the Lateran Basilica. It is the cathedral of the Bishop of Rome, the Pope.
- _St. Peter's Basilica_, also called the Vatican Basilica, is a major pilgrimage site, being built over the burial place of Saint Peter. It is used for most of the main religious ceremonies in which the Pope takes part.
- _The Basilica of St. Paul outside the Walls_, is also known as the Ostian Basilica, because it is on the road that led to Ostia. It is built over the burial place of Saint Paul.
- _The Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore_, (St. Mary Major) is also called the Liberian basilica, because the building was thought to have been built by Pope Liberius. It is the largest church in Rome dedicated to the Virgin Mary.

### Other well-known basilicas

- _The Church of the Holy Sepulchre_, Jerusalem, Israel
- _The Basilica of St. Nicholas of Bari_ in Bari, Italy
- _The Basilica of St. Anthony of Padua_ in Padua, Italy
- _The Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi_ in Italy
- _The Basilica of St. Mark_ in Venice, Italy
- _The Basilica of St. Denis_, near Paris, France
- _The Basilica of St. Louis_, St. Louis, Missouri USA
- _The Basilica of Our Lady of Fátima_, Portugal
- _The Cathedral Basilica of San Thome_, Chennai, India
- _St. Stephen's Basilica_, Budapest, Hungary
- _The Cathedral Basilica_ of St. Chad, Birmingham England(1941)
- _The Cathedral Basilica Shrine of Our Lady of the Rosary_, Argentina
- _The Cathedral Basilica of St. Mary, Help of Christians_ Sydney, Australia
- _The Basilica of Our Lady of Peace of Yamoussoukro_, in Côte d'Ivoire West Africa
- _The Cathedral Basilica of Notre-Dame de Québec_ in Quebec City was the first basilica in North America. (1874).
- _The Cathedral Basilica of Our Lord Jesus Christ King of the Universe_, Reykjavík, Iceland
- _The Basilica of St. Adalbert_ in Buffalo, New York United States of America, (1907)
- _The Cathedral Basilica of Las Lajas_, in Colombia
- _Berchem Basilica_, Antwerp, Belgium (1878)
- _San Francisco de la Habana Basilica_ in Havana, Cuba
- _The Basilica of St. Gereon_, Cologne, Germany (1920)
- _The Basilica of Our Lady of Lanka_, Tewatte, Sri Lanka
- The Basilica of San Isidoro , León, Spain
- _The Basilica of the Black Nazarene_, Philippines
- _The Basilica of Emmaus Nicopolis_, Israel
- _The Basilica of la Sagrada Familia_, Spain, has been under construction since 1882, and although it is still unfinished, it was consecrated and proclaimed a minor basilica by Pope Benedict XVI in November 2010

## Related pages

- Church
- Cathedral
- Chapel
- Christianity
- Roman Catholicism

## References

- Architecture of the basilica, well illustrated.
- Basilica Porcia
- W. Thayer, "Basilicas of Ancient Rome": from Samuel Ball Platner (as completed and revised by Thomas Ashby), 1929. _A Topographical Dictionary of Ancient Rome_ (London: Oxford University Press)
- Paul Veyne, ed. _A History of Private Life I: From Pagan Rome to Byzantium,_ 1987
- List of All Major, Patriarchal and Minor Basilicas by Giga-Catholic Information
- _Catholic Encyclopedia_: Basilica & minor parts in other articles
- Richard Krautheimer, _Early Christian and Byzantine Architecture_
- _Domus ecclesiae:_ Privileges and obligations pertaining to minor basilicas