Scala Sancta

The Scala Sancta, or Holy Stairs, is a flight of 28 marble steps in Rome which Catholic tradition holds are the steps of Pontius Pilate's praetorium in Jerusalem, climbed by Christ on the way to his trial. Medieval legend says that St Helena, mother of Constantine, brought them to Rome around 326. In the Middle Ages they were known as the Scala Pilati and led up to the old papal palace at the Lateran. When Pope Sixtus V rebuilt the Lateran in 1589, his architect Domenico Fontana put up the present building to house them: five parallel staircases leading up from a portico, with the holy stairs in the middle. Each step was moved in procession to its new position.

The rule has not changed in centuries: the central staircase may only be climbed on the knees, usually with a prayer on each step, while four ordinary staircases on either side are for walking. Martin Luther went up on his knees in 1510 and later said he reached the top doubting whether it did any good. Charles Dickens watched the devotion in 1845 and disliked what he saw. Popes have attached indulgences to the climb, and it remains a living devotion; on busy days there is a steady line of pilgrims moving slowly upward.

Because the marble was being worn down by so many knees, Pope Benedict XIII had it encased in walnut in 1724. After a restoration, the bare marble was uncovered for a few months in 2019, from April to July, the first time in almost 300 years; it was then covered again. The walls and vaults of the staircases are covered with frescoes painted for Sixtus V by a large workshop under Cesare Nebbia and Giovanni Guerra, restored in 2007 and again from 2018.

At the top the stairs lead to the Sancta Sanctorum, the "Holy of Holies", once the private chapel of the medieval popes and part of the old Lateran Palace. It houses a treasured icon of Christ said to have been painted without human hands. The sanctuary stands on extraterritorial property of the Holy See.

Getting there

The Scala Sancta faces the Archbasilica of St John Lateran across the road, on the north-east side of Piazza di San Giovanni in Laterano. Metro Line A runs from Termini station to San Giovanni, a short walk away, and several buses come from Piazza Venezia and the Colosseum area. Rome Ciampino Airport (CIA) is about 12 km away.