The Archbasilica of St. John Lateran is the cathedral of the Diocese of Rome and the seat of the pope as bishop of Rome. It is the oldest of the four papal major basilicas and the only archbasilica in the world. Constantine gave the Lateran Palace to the bishop of Rome, and Pope Sylvester I presided over the dedication in 324. A plaque on the facade calls it the mother and head of all churches.
An earthquake in 897 nearly destroyed it, and fires followed in 1308 and in the 1360s. Francesco Borromini renovated the interior under Pope Innocent X. Alessandro Galilei won a competition for the facade, which was completed in 1735 under Clement XII. The church is 460 feet (140 m) long and 240 feet (73 m) wide.
Borromini's twelve niches stood empty for decades and were filled with statues of the apostles in 1718. Under the Lateran Treaty of 1929 the archbasilica enjoys extraterritorial status.
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