Built by emperor Constantine the Great in 318 AD, who wanted to honour Jesus Christ for aiding him in a battle against a rival that was defending his own right to the throne , i.e. Maxentius. This Basilica, the first one built by the emperor, became residence to the then Pope St. Silvester I. It remained the heart of the Christian faith until the period of the so called captive Avignon Papacy (1309-1377), which started when the Archbishop of Bordeaux, Bertrand de Got, the future Pope Clement V (1305-1314), and the King of France Philip IV, the Handsome, plotted the removal of the cradle of the Christian faith from Rome to France.
The Holy Stairs, the marble stairs to the Palace of Pontius Pilate where Jesus Christ walked during his Passion, were brought to Rome from Jerusalem by the mother of emperor Constantine, St. Helena. The stairs are covered by wooden planks and the faithful climb them on their knees as a sign of reverence and penitence. In this spectacular tour of St. John Lateran and the Holy Steps you will marvel at the Sancta Sanctorum: the private Papal chapel of many of the early Popes before the Avignon Papacy, also known as the chapel of St. Lawrence. Then the Baptismal Font, the Lateran Baptistery: built by Pope Sixtus III (432-440 AD) on the site of an earlier structure, and the only baptismal font in Rome for many centuries. The famed octagonal structure is still used today.
Join us in this three hours tour of St John Lateran: you will marvel at the Cathedral of Rome called the Mother of all Churches, The Holy Stairs, the Sancta Sanctorum and more.
Itinerary
- The Lateran Cathedral
- Complex of the Holy Steps
- Sancta Sanctorum Chapel
- Egyptian Obelisk
- Lateran Baptistry