The oldest of Rome’s four major basilicas, San Giovanni in Laterano stands alongside St. Peter’s Basilica, St. Mary Major, and St. Paul Outside the Walls. The greatest of the basilicas, and the only archbasilica, it is considered the “Mother and Head of All Churches in the City and the World.”

The property originally belonged to the Lateran family and was inherited by Constantine’s wife, Fausta. Emperor Constantine then donated it to Pope Miltiades I after the legalization of Christianity around the year 311.

To this day, the Papal Basilica serves as the cathedral of Rome and the official ecclesiastical seat of the Bishop of Rome. It was the papal residence until the Avignon Papacy. Pope Martin V, the pontiff who brought the papacy back to Rome, is buried before the main altar.

The relics of the heads of St. Peter and Paul are in the ciborium above at the center of the church. Tradition holds that a large relic of a table on the left side of the church was the table on which Jesus and the Apostles celebrated the Last Supper.

Many important historical events have taken place in St. John Lateran, including five ecumenical councils and many diocesan synods. In 1929 the Lateran Pacts, which established the territory and status of the State of Vatican City, were signed here between the Holy See and the Government of Italy.