During the mid fourth century, an old married couple lived in Rome, they were wealthy and Christian. They were known for their great charity towards others, helping the poor. Having no children, they were worried looking for the best possible use of their great fortune, wondering what to do with their property to ensure the best Christian use of their inheritance. They asked the Virgin through prayer what was the most convenient thing to do. Mary, in response, appeared to each one in a dream. She told them that the will of her son and hers was to build a temple on the Esquiline, which she said that they would find snowy the next day.The next day they ran to tell what had happened to Pope Liberius, who had a similar dream. The Pope immediately organized a procession torwards the mount that the Virgin had chosen. There they saw, in the summer, a snow covered space, which marked the site of the future church. John and his wife began in that exact place the construction of the new church. Currently this temple is dedicated to the Mother of God, it is known as Santa Maria Maggiore, this Basilica seems to be the first one to be devoted to honor the Blessed Virgin in Rome and is also one of the most beautiful in the city. Our devotion to Nuestra Señora de las Nieves was reduced to Rome and its periphery, at least until the beginning of year 1000. The first artistic work of which we have record that represented the miracle is attributed to a pupil of Giotto preserved in the present Basilica.