Battistero Paleocristiano di Santa Maria Maggiore, Nocera Superiore

The early Christian baptistery of Santa Maria Maggiore is located in Nocera Superiore, in the province of Salerno.

It was founded in the second half of the sixth century A.D. It was probably adjacent to the vanished cathedral of the Nocerine diocese. The baptistery, in fact, is usually an appendage of the insula episcopalis. The cathedral dedicated to the Virgin Mary has not been located because it has collapsed. The building was built on Byzantine models; it is round with a central plan, there is a double row of columns, and on these rests a large dome. The plan echoes that of the mausoleum of St. Constance in Rome, but it is very similar to coeval Eastern and African buildings. The baptismal font is the second largest in Italy.