Archbasilica of Saint John Lateran (Italian: Basilica di San Giovanni in Laterano) is the cathedral church of the Diocese of Rome in the city of Rome, and serves as the seat of the Roman Pontiff, the pope.
The church is the oldest and highest ranking of the four papal major basilicas, holding the unique title of "archbasilica". It is the oldest public church in the city of Rome, and the oldest basilica of the Western world.
The church houses the cathedra of the Roman bishop and has the title of ecumenical mother church of the Roman Catholic faithful.
The statues of the twelve Apostles are lively, all of them are larger-than-life.
The chapels around are also beautiful and worth seeing, but since there are some sporadic ceremonies, keep quiet during visit.
Since the church is the seat of the pope, you can see several tombs of the former pope inside.
At the corner of the church stands a rough wooden statue, seems a relic from the middle age, the priest always bow to the statue every time when he passes by, something special about this statue?
