Travelogue: Ascending the Scala Sancta

On 28 May 2019, my youngest daughter Trinity and I visited the famous “Scala Sancta,” better known as the Holy Stairs, or Pilate’s Stairs (in Medieval times they were generally referred to as “Scala Pilati”), in Rome. These steps are believed to have once led to the praetorium (i.e. palace) of Roman prefect Pontius Pilate, governor of the Roman province of Judea. If so, these are the steps Jesus Christ would have walked on as he was brought before Pilate by the Jewish authorities during his Passion, as related in the New Testament Gospels.

According to an ancient tradition, around 326 A.D. the Roman Emperor Constantine’s mother Helena brought them back with her to Rome following her famous relic hunting pilgrimage to the Holy Land. The steps are located across the street from the ArchBasilica of St. John Lateran, one of the four major basilicas in Rome. It serves as the cathedral church of the Diocese of Rome and serves as the actual seat of the Pope in his capacity as Bishop of Rome (i.e. Not St Peter’s in Vatican City as typically believed). The steps were originally placed within the original St. John Lateran, likely due to its status of being the ancient seat of the Papacy. The steps were moved in 1589 by Pope Sixtus V, during the period that the present St. Peter’s Basilica was being built. Also during this period St. John Lateran’s original structure was being demolished and rebuilt due to decay that occurred during the years that the Papacy had been moved to Avignon, France (1309-1376), because of conflict between the Papacy and the King of France. 


Pictures of me standing outside St. John Lateran, and just inside the outer entry way (That is the Roman Emperor Constantine the Great standing over me). 

Pope Sixtus V moved the steps so they would ascend to the Church of St. Lawrence, better known as the “Sancta Sanctorum” (i.e. Holy of Holies), which served as the personal chapel of the early Popes. Each step was individually removed and carried in procession, the top step first, which was placed to serve as the bottom step in the new location. This process was continued in the same fashion so the steps leading up to the Sancta Sanctorum are now in inverse order from their original placement.

Pictures taken inside the Sancta Sanctorum, the chapel of St. Lawrence situated at the top of the Holy Stairs.

The Sancta Sanctorum, is one of only two surviving structures from the original St. John Lateran complex, and is across the street from the new St. John Lateran. It’s designation as the “Holy of Holies” is due to it’s housing a reliquary box that at one time contained the bones of at least 13 saints, including the heads of the Apostles Peter and Paul, and St. Agnes, a teenage girl martyred for refusing to marry and desiring to remain a consecrated virgin for Christ, killed during the Emperor Diocletian’s persecution of Christians, around the year 304 A.D. This chapel was originally constructed in the 8^th century but was rebuilt in 1278 and is the basic structure that exists today.  


Arguments against the authenticity of the stairs point out that the marble appears to be Italian and not Palestinian in origin, and that it is likely Pilate’s palace was destroyed when Rome was sacked in AD 70. Arguments for the Authenticity point out that recent archeological evidence shows that the Romans had a habit of constructing civic buildings out of materials imported from Italy all throughout their empire. This practice served as a means to signal to the locals that they were living under Roman rule. Moreover, even if the Palace was leveled, it wouldn’t necessarily mean the stairs were also destroyed. The Catholic Legal Beagle would love to do a deep dive on the merits of these arguments and perhaps even write a book on the subject, but alas it will likely have to wait until I am retired.

Regardless of their disputed origin, I found ascending the steps of the Scala Sancta with my daughter to be a very moving experience spiritually. At the time we were there, we were able to go up the steps on their original marble surface. This had not been allowed since 1723, when Pope Innocent XIII placed wood over the marble to protect it from pilgrim wear and tear. The steps had just been renovated and were left uncovered for two months during the Feast of Pentecost, so pilgrims could enjoy the original experience of going up the 28 marble steps in silence and on their knees. 

Along the sides and at the tops of steps are many beautiful 16^th century frescoes intended to encourage reflection on the Passion. On the second, eleventh, and twenty-eight steps are areas that show rustic looking stains that have been traditionally associated as being caused by Christ’s blood. I brought a rosary I had obtained in Jerusalem with me and touched it on each of the steps, all while contemplating Christ’s sufferings and his appearance before Pilate, as detailed in the Gospels. If sort of felt like a trial transcript running through my head. Feeling as though I could be on the very steps Christ actually walked on during his Passion, and where indisputably Christian's had ascended for over 1,000 years to contemplate Christ's sacrificial death and resurrection, was truly unforgettable.



As I ascended to the top and stood up on my aching knees, I looked down on all the pilgrims coming up behind me. Many were praying or reciting the rosary, some were even weeping. In that mix were people of all ages and nationalities; all strangers yet all united as children of God; even those who in that moment may not have considered themselves to be believers in the faith. I think for a non-Christian to choose to participate in that experience reflects a degree of uncertainty in their lives about the nature or even existence of God, and a yearning to find answers, even if in that moment they are not conscious of that yearning.


 Ultimately the experience helped give me better perspective about how Christ offered himself as a  sacrifice to atone for the sins of the world; to provide all of humanity with the grace of redemption and the means to escape from being in bondage to sin; how Christ served as the ultimate and perfect sacrifice, those previously provided in the temple and according to the Old Testament being insufficient other than for foreshadowing and pointing to the sacrifice that was to come. A perfect sacrifice accomplished by a loving God who deigned to become man, in order that He  suffer and die to show all of humanity what it truly means to love, and indeed to show us how very much we are loved, by God.😊

In closing I want to encourage everyone who gets the opportunity to visit and ascend the Scala Sancta, but don’t wait for the wood to be removed as you could end up waiting another 300 years!