Scala Santa and San Giovanni in Laterano

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Scala Santa and San Giovanni in Laterano

Approaching St. John Lateran you notice the Egyptian obelisk which Constantius II brought to Rome in the 4th century, and put in the Circus Maximus as a companion to the one brought by Augustus, nearly four hundred years before and which now stands in Piazza del Popolo. It was re erected here in 1585 and is the biggest and the oldest one of the fourteen obelisks of Rome. It dates from the fifteenth century B.C. and stood originally before the Temple of Ammon in Thebes. Near the obelisk is the Lateran Palace, a Renaissance structure with no other interest than its name and its site. In this palace the Lateran Treaty was signed. It used to house the Lateran Collection, which has recently been moved to the Vatican. It is now the Vicariate. Domenico Fontana, XVI century, is responsible for the architecture. Nearby is the beautiful octagonal Baptistry, built in the V century, and recently restored.

The Laterani, leading noble people of imperial Rome, were the owners of this area, which became property of Constantine as a dowry of his wife, Fausta. After his victory, Constantine gave this area and the palace of Plautius Lateranus to Pope Sylvester in 325 A.D. and so the territorial acquisition of the Church began. The Cathedral of Rome was founded there and for about a thousand years was the seat of the Bishop of Rome. The only remaining parts of the old papal palace are at the top of the Holy Stairs, the Sancta Sanctorurn, the Popes' private chapel. The church of the Holy Stairs was originally built in the fourth century to enshrine the staircase, built with the 28 marble steps believed the ones from Pilate's palace in Jerusalem and brought to Rome by St. Helena. Jesus ascended these stairs several times while being judged and descended them to his scouring and death. The faithful climb them on their knees; Martin Luther, as you know, started up but turned back and walked down. That was his first official sign of protest against the Roman Church. The present church was rebuilt in 1585 by Sixtus V. After getting an impression of the religious significance of the Scala Santa, we walk over to the Cathedral. From far away you have probably watched the giant statues (twenty feet high) at the top of the facade and silhouetted against the Roman sky. They represent Christ, in the Center, and the Doctors of the Church, St. Vincent, St. Ambrose, St. Augustine etc.

The facade of St. John was built by Alexander Galilei in 1735. In the portico is the fourth Porta Santa. The central bronze door, dating from 305 A.D., was moved from the Roman Senate in the Forum, in 1650. At the far inside end of the portico on the left is a restored statue of Emperor Constantine, one of the few statues we have of him. Not even the Romans saw much of Constantine; he was born near the Danube, was educated in Asia and he visited Rome only three times in his life. The church was rebuilt several times and the last reconstruction dates back to 1650, by the Baroque architect Borromini, rival of Bernini. The interior appears rather heavy and has imposing statues of the Apostles in the recesses against the piers of the central nave. The statues are by followers of Bernini and above the piers are the reliefs by Algardi, depicting analogies of the Old and New Testament. From the previous reconstructions is the Cosmatesque floor dating from XIV century. The ceiling is by Daniel da Volterra, a disciple of Michelangelo, XVI century, The canopy of the High Altar has a touch of Gothic and dates from the XV century. In the canopy beyond the gilded grill, are kept the skull bones of St. Peter and St. Paul, in the head of the statues of the saints. In the lowered part in front of the main altar is the bronze grave of Pope Martin V (Colonna). (The founder of this princely house was a crusader who brought to Rome from Jerusalem the column of the Scourging of Christ).

In the transept on the left is the altar of the Blessed Sacrament, above this are the relics of the table of Jesus's Last Supper. On the right is the monumental pipe organ, from 1598. At the end of the last century the apse was rebuilt; and there is the Throne of the Bishop of Rome.

Above the Papal Throne (The Cathedra) is a reproduction, of the 13th century mosaic by Torriti, and the two new pipe organs. This church certainly cannot compete with the classic beauty and authentic antiquity of Santa Maria Maggiore, but from the historical point of view, this is the most important of all the Christian churches.

Its rank is "Head and Mother of all Churches in Rome and in the World". It was built, as we, saw, as a cathedral and not as a memorial church. 'this is the seat of the Pope. When the Pope goes out of the Vatican, for the first time after his Coronation, he goes St. John's to take possession of it. This church certainly saw its greatest splendour during the Middle Ages, when the Lateran was still the residence of the Popes. Then the Papacy was driven out of Rome by the riots and violence, and when the Pope came back to Rome after the captivity in Avignon, the Papal Palace of the Lateran had been completely ruined by fire and was uninhabitable and the Pope went to live at the Vatican.



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