Because of a punning coincidence between his name and "nieve, " the Spanish for "snow, " Neve commissioned Murillo to paint two lunettes, semicircular murals depicting the founding in Rome of Santa Maria Maggiore the legend that the Virgin appeared to a Roman patrician in a dream, and told him to build the church on a hill where he'd find snow in August.

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Every now and then, the landscape is punctuated by a tiny village like Sant Mateu, set amongst the olive groves and consisting of little more than a whitewashed church on the brow of a hill.

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The church was formed 170 years ago on a hill not far from the quaint town square in downtown Lebanon.

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It is just as stunning now as it was then - high wooded hills plunging down to the lakeside and a castle perched atop a hill near the start, balanced by a church on an island near the finish.

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The weathered, silvery stone ruins scattered across the grassy, 158m-high Hill of Slane today include a foundational outline of a church, a round tower and a monastery associated with St Erc, and a later Norman motte and bailey on the hill's western side, built by Archembald Fleming, who came to Ireland with Henry II in 1171.

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The pontiff had originally been scheduled to celebrate Ash Wednesday at the small Sant' Anselmo church, then lead a procession to Santa Sabina Basilica on Rome's Aventine Hill.

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