Snow in Rome?

Travelers often ask me what the winter is like in the Urbe.  Generally I respond that it’s cold and wet, though in the city itself it doesn’t really snow.  If you want snow, head to the mountains or go up to Northern Italy.  But now two years in a row I was suprised to find myself in a Rome-sized snow-globe. It was surreal, short-lived, and spectacular experience both times.

But just how rare of an event is this?  Pretty darn rare.  In fact, it reminded me of a particular point of Roman History I thought I’d share, on the story behind Rome’s great Basilica Santa Maria Maggiore.  Santa Maria Maggiore is one of Rome’s “patriarchal” basilicas, and is unique for being the only one of these dedicated to a woman, the Virgin Mary.  The story says that Pope Liberio had a dream in which the Virgin Mary told him to build her a church, and while discussing this vision, on the Esquilino Hill, it began to snow…in August.  This snowfall was the sign that he had found the spot to build the Basilica, and there is still stands today.  As a sidenote, that snowfall on the 5th of August 356 A.D. is in historical records– it really happened!  To commemorate “The Miracle of the Snow”, each year white rose petals are dropped from the Dome during mass on he anniversary.