Press Releases

Ninety new light projectors pointing at the facade, the bell tower – the highest in Rome – and the Sistina and Paolina domes, to add value to one of Rome’s symbolic places
For the first time the statue of the Virgin with Child on the Column of Peace is illuminated
 

The mayor of Rome, Virginia Raggi, Archpriest Cardinal Stanisław Ryłko and Michaela Castelli, President of Acea , this evening presented the new artistic lighting system of the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore.

The intervention carried out by Acea was completed with the support of the City of Rome and the Infrastructure and Services Directorate of the Governorate of the Vatican City. Work on the Basilica involved replacing 90 of the 130 existing led light projectors, pointing at the facade, the bell tower and the Sistina and Paolina domes, which over the years had been damaged by the weather. Also the lighting systems in the loggia with the mosaics and the lower portico were renovated. Over a ten-day period, special equipment, including a mobile crane with a 70-meter extensible platform, was used to access the top of the Basilica, the highest in Rome.

The bronze statue of the Virgin with Child at the top of what is known as the Column of Peace, in the center of the piazza opposite the Basilica, was illuminated for the first time.

The mayor, Virginia Raggi, described the new lighting system of the Papal Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore as yet another step towards valorizing the Capital’s historic and artistic heritage. A commitment that the City of Rome has undertaken and maintains with great success, thanks to Acea and fantastic teamwork. In addition to highlighting its beauty, the new lighting system makes discovering the City and its emblematic buildings and monuments even more fascinating and suggestive for both citizens and tourists, who can now appreciate them even at night. This is also a sustainable project that respects the environment, as led lights ensure low electricity consumption.

Michaela Castelli, President of Acea, said that working on the artistic lighting of Santa Maria Maggiore, one of the four Papal Basilicas in Rome, was a great honor. The Company's vast project to valorize the sites with great historic and artistic value across the Capital has been underway for some time; for example, just a few months ago it involved the Basilica of San Giovanni in Laterano. Acea was born in Rome over a century ago and there could be no better way of strengthening its bond with the city, its territory and its citizens.