Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
BASILICA LEGENDS
Legend holds that if a pregnant woman touches the basilica's main bronze doors she will give birth to a boy. In-
side, on the second pilaster in the right-hand nave, is a monument to Pope Sylvester II (r 999-1003) which is said
to sweat and creak when the death of a pope is imminent. Outside on the western side of the cloister, four
columns support a slab of marble that medieval Christians believed represented the height of Jesus. A similar
story surrounds a piece of porphyry on which it's said Roman soldiers threw lots to win the robes of the crucified
Christ.
French President, François Hollande, holds the title 'Protocanonico d'onore del capitolo della basilica lat-
eranense' or 'honorary canon of the Basilica of St John in Lateran'. The title has been granted to France's
kings and presidents since 1604 when king Henri IV earned it after donating a generous sum to the Later-
an chapter, the ecclesiastical body responsible for the Basilica.
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