Vatican and Lateran Basilica

St John Lateran, the cathedral church of Rome adjoins the Palazzo del Laterano which was the site of the official Papal residence for almost a thousand years until the captivity in Avignon in the 14th century. When the Popes returned to Rome, the Holy See was established at the Vatican.

Little remains of the original basilica, founded by Pope Melchiades at the beginning of the 4th century on the site of an Imperial army barracks. The cathedral has been ravaged by fire (twice), sacked by Vandals, seriously damaged by earthquake, and was modernized for the last time in the 17th century by Borromini, so do not be surprised that it does not show its true age. The main facade dates from the mid- 18th century and is heavily derivative of S. Pietro.

On a pillar just inside the basilica is a fragment of a fresco by Giotto showing Pope Boniface VIII proclaiming the first Holy Year in 1300. Above the Papal Altar, at which only the Pope is allowed to officiate, is a fine Gothic canopy by Sienese artists dating from 1367. A wooden table preserved inside the altar is said to have been used by St Peter himself to celebrate the eucharist.

A door in the left hand aisle leads into the Chiostro (cloister), a masterpiece of 13th century Cosmatesque decoration, carried out, as an inscription records, by a father and son called Vassalletto. The colouring and the imagination displayed by these mosaic artists is unequalled anywhere else in Rome. Around the cloister walls are displayed reliefs and tombstones recovered from the medieval basilica.

Adjoining the basilica is the 4th century Battistero (Baptistery) erected by Constantine in part of the baths of a palace belonging to a noble Roman family. The present building dates from the reign of Pope Sixtus III (432-440) and baptism by total immersion was practiced. The four chapels surrounding the Battistero are worth seeing for their mosaics. One, the Cappella del Battista has a pair of bronze doors which originally came from the Baths of Caracalla and make a curious musical sound when opened. The Cappella di S. Giovanni Evangelism contains some ravishing 5th-century mosaics of birds and flowers.

Across the piazza is the Scala Santa (Holy Staircase), all that remains of the ancient Patriarchal Palace demolished by Pope Sixtus V in 1586 when he built the present Palazzo Laterano as a pontifical summer residence. The Scala Santa was the ceremonial stairway of the old palace and according to medieval tradition it had been removed from Pontius Pilate's residence in Jerusalem by St Helen, the mother of Constantine. The stairs are still climbed by devout pilgrims on their knees. They lead up to the Sanaa Sanctorus (Holy of Holies), the former private chapel of the Popes, also known as the Cappella di S. Lorenzo. The chapel (always locked but you can peer through the grille) contains many valuable relics including a silver encrusted portrait of Christ whose image is said to be acheiropoieton *(not painted by human hands). It was brought here from Constantinople before ad 750 and for centuries was carried in solemn procession through the streets of Rome to ward off calamities.

The Egyptian red granite obelisk in the centre of the piazza is the oldest, and the tallest in Rome. It was first erected in Thebes in Egypt in the 15th century bc, transported to Rome in ad 357 and finally brought here from the Circus Maximus in 1588 by Pope Sixtus V to mark one of the hubs of his road network. Nearby for centuries stood the equestrian statue of Marcus Aurelius now in the Campidoglio. The statue was mistakenly believed to represent Constantine, the first Christian Emperor, and alone of all the great equestrian bronzes of antiquity survived intact for this reason. The basilica is open all day from 0700 to half an hour before sunset. The Scala Santa, the Battistero and the Cloisters all close between 1230 and 1530.

Photo Credit: Muze Biletleri - Vatikan Muzesi

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Created on Oct 21st 2020 02:39. Viewed 282 times.

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