Piotr Kowalczuk
Papal Basilica of Saint Mary Major
The temple is one of the four papal basilicas in Rome, alongside the basilicas of St. Peter in the Vatican, St. John Lateran, and St. Paul Outside the Walls. These are the most important and magnificent temples of the Catholic Church, featuring a special papal altar and holy doors, opened during the Jubilee Year. In the temple, on April 26, 2025, Pope Francis was buried according to his wishes.
How the audio guide works
It can be rented with headphones in the basilica’s portico at the entrance. Visitors also receive a map with numbered locations described in the audio guide. After pressing the corresponding number on the keypad, the guide’s voice can be heard through the headphones, describing the selected place or object.
This is the third Polish audio guide
Ambassador Adam Kwiatkowski emphasized during the inauguration that this is the third initiative of its kind realized with the inspiration of the Embassy, financed by the Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs. In 2024, a gigantic audio guide project for the Vatican Museums was completed. The total length of recordings for all tour paths is over 11.5 hours. Last year, an audio guide for the Apostolic Palace in Castel Gandolfo was created.
The Polish edition is accompanied only by audio guides in Italian and English. Ambassador Kwiatkowski expressed gratitude to the archpriest, Cardinal Rolandas Makrickas, “for his favor towards the project, excellent cooperation, and enabling the history and beauty of this basilica to be learned in Polish.”
High demand for Polish guides
Cardinal Makrickas emphasized during the presentation that the basilica is not only a very important place of worship and a Roman center of Marian spirituality but also a great attraction for history and art lovers. “I am very pleased that we can offer our visitors an audio guide in Polish. The Polish guide to the basilica in book form, published by us two years ago, is highly valued by pilgrims.” Polish is one of six languages in which the audio guide service is offered.
In the last Jubilee Year, Poles constituted the fifth largest nationality group visiting Rome.
Polonica
The inaugurated audio guide in Polish is not a faithful copy of the Italian edition. With the consent of Cardinal Makrickas, the content has been supplemented with a Polish theme. Poles visiting the Sistine Chapel in the basilica will additionally hear that “among the bas-reliefs decorating the funerary monument of Sixtus V, in the upper right corner, there is a scene depicting the conclusion of peace between Sigismund III Vasa, King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania, and his rival for the Polish throne, Archduke Maximilian Habsburg. Information about the participation of the papal nuncio, Ippolito Aldobrandini, in bringing about the agreement, which took place in 1589, is placed on a plaque in the lower right corner of the tombstone.”
