The decision by Pope Francis to break with tradition and be buried at the Papal Basilica of St. Mary Major in Rome rather than the Vatican is shining a spotlight on the 5th-century basilica dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary.

The Santa Maria Maggiore basilica, which Pope Francis chose as his final resting place, is a fifth-century church located in the centre of Rome that already holds the tombs of seven popes. The last pontiff to be buried outside the Vatican was Leo XIII in 1903,

With St. Peter’s, St. John Lateran, St. Paul Outside the Walls, it is one of four basilicas in Rome granted special status by the pope. In his will, he wrote that he had visited the Marian basilica at the beginning and the end of every apostolic trip he took during his 12-year papacy.