The Church of Santa Maria Maggiore is an important place of worship in the city of Trento, and the site of the Third Session of the Council of Trent.

Traditionally, the foundation of the cathedral was attributed to St. Vigilius, the third Bishop of Trento, in the late fourth of early fifth century, but archaeological investigations between 1974 and 1978 and again in 2007–2009 have cast further light on the story of the building.

[2] The original cathedral itself was built somewhat later than previously thought, in the late fifth or early sixth century, and had a large space divided into three naves.

[3] Between the late eighth and early ninth centuries a number of building works were undertaken on the cathedral, in particular the addition of richly-decorated stone liturgical fittings, including a rood screen and a ciborium.

This building preserved, among other elements of earlier edifices, fragments of frescoes and parts of a Gothic fascicule semi-pillar at one of its entrances.

The main façade consists of an arched entrance in renaissance style with a door commissioned by Prince-Archbishop Cristoforo Madruzzo in 1539.