Mary-Major Art History | Location | Opening Hours Tickets | Authorisations
Art History Apse | Altar Baldachin | Central Nave | Tomb Pope Francis | Triumphal Arch Mosaics | Sides Mosaics | Cosmatesque Pavement Nave | Confession Crypt | Baptistery | Paolina Chapel | Sistine Chapel | Portico | Blessings Lodge | Pope's Hall | Treasury
The Tomb of Pope Francis and the funerary monuments and tombs of cardinals and popes in the Basilica of Saint Mary Major in Rome

Tomb of Pope Francis Pope Francis explicitly wished to be buried in the Basilica Saint Mary Major in Rome, and not in St Peter's Basilica.
He expressed this wish regarding his final resting place in his will.
Testament of Pope Francis
Miserando atque Eligendo
In the name of the Holy Trinity. Amen.
Feeling that the twilight of my earthly life is approaching and with a lively hope in eternal life, I wish to express my testamentary will solely with regard to the Venue of my burial.
I have always entrusted my life and my priestly and episcopal ministry to the Mother of Our Lord, Mary Most Holy. I therefore ask that my mortal remains rest in the Papal Basilica of Saint Mary Major until the day of the Resurrection.
I want my last journey on earth to end in this ancient Marian shrine, where I used to go to pray at the beginning and end of each apostolic journey, in order to confidently entrust my intentions to the Immaculate Mother and to thank her for her maternal and docile solicitude.
I request that my tomb be prepared in the niche of the side aisle between the Pauline Chapel (Chapel of the Salus Populi Romani) and the Sforza Chapel of the above-mentioned Papal Basilica, as indicated in the attached annex.
The tomb must be in the ground, simple, without any particular decoration and with the sole inscription: Franciscus.
May the Lord reward as they deserve those who have loved me and who will continue to pray for me. I have offered to the Lord the sufferings that marked the last part of my life for peace in the world and brotherhood between peoples.
Santa Marta, 29 June 2022
Francesco
Other tombs and funerary monuments in the Basilica of Saint Mary Major
Pope Francis is the eighth and last pope to be buried in the Basilica of Saint Mary Major.Are buried in the Basilica Saint Mary Major :
Honorius III (pope from 1216 to 1227)
Nicolas IV (pope from 1288 to 1292)
Pie V (pope from 1566 to 1572)
Sixtus V (pope from 1585 to 1590)
Clement VIII (pope from 1592 to 1605)
Paul V (pope from 1605 to 1621)
Clement IX (pope from 1667 to 1669)
Also buried at Saint Mary Major are many cardinals as well as the sculptor Gian Lorenzo Bernini, whose tomb is in the right-hand side of the basilica, level with the Baldachin.
Art History Apse | Altar Baldachin | Central Nave | Tomb Pope Francis | Triumphal Arch Mosaics | Sides Mosaics | Cosmatesque Pavement Nave | Confession Crypt | Baptistery | Paolina Chapel | Sistine Chapel | Portico | Blessings Lodge | Pope's Hall | Treasury
Mary-Major Art History | Location | Opening Hours Tickets | Authorisations
Back to Top of Page