Holy Churches of Rome Walking Tour

Preserved under the barrel vaulted ceilings and rising domes of the Roman churches are 2000 years of theology, art, and faith. This tour is a must for those on the pilgrim’s path to Rome.

In the Biblical Book of Leviticus, a Jubilee year is mentioned to occur every fiftieth year, in which slaves and prisoners would be freed, debts would be forgiven and the mercies of God would be particularly manifest. Nowhere else on earth do art, architecture, history and faith combine quite as beautifully as they do in Rome during this special time. As you visit the oldest church in the west and mother church of the Catholic faith, the Arch basilica of St. John Lateran, look to the high altar. According to tradition, the elegant baldacchino above the altar is home to a reliquary containing the skulls of the martyred St. Peter and St. Paul. As you continue to the Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls, you’ll have an opportunity to pay your respects at his tomb. After St. Paul was buried, his followers erected a cella memoriae, or memorial, thus laying the groundwork upon which Emperor Constantine would later build the church. Santa Croce in Gerusalemme, or Church of the Holy Cross in Jerusalem is unique as it is named not in honor of the origin of the cross but because, at the time of its consecration, the floor was covered in soil from Jerusalem, thus making it a piece of the Holy Land. Here you’ll find fragments of the true cross, thorns from Jesus’ crown, and a nail from the crucifixion. The Major Basilica of Saint Mary, with its stunning mosaics, is an exceptional example of the worship and adoration of the Virgin Mary. The mosaic floors date back to the 5^th century, and are the oldest representations of Mary known to Christian Late Antiquity.