Discover Pontifical Sanctuary of the Holy Stairs (Scala Santa)

The Pontifical Sanctuary of the Holy Stairs stands near the Basilica of Saint John Lateran and houses both the Holy Stairs and the Sancta Sanctorum, the old chapel of the popes where the image of the Holy Saviour is venerated.

According to tradition the 28 steps were transported from Jerusalem to Rome in 326 by the Empress Saint Helena, mother of Constantine, and are believed to be the stairs Jesus climbed in Pontius Pilate's palace. The reference work describes them as 28 white marble steps in an edifice on extraterritorial property of the Holy See, and states that the Scala Sancta may only be ascended on the knees.

Pope Sixtus V had them moved to the current building in 1589 — the reference work says he ordered them reconstructed in their present location, before the Sancta Sanctorum — with the architect Domenico Fontana designing four flights around the central Scala Santa. In 1724 Pope Benedict XIII covered the marble stairs in wood for their protection; the covering was removed and the marble exposed following restoration work in 2019.

The Chapel of San Lorenzo in Palatio, the Sancta Sanctorum, contains relics and has 13th-century frescoes and a Cosmatesque floor arranged under Pope Nicholas III. It also houses the icon known as the Uronica, a Christ Pantocrator supposedly begun by Saint Luke and finished by an angel.

Scala Sancta 09.00-13.30 and 15.00-18.30; Sancta Sanctorum 09.00-13.30 and 15.00-17.00. The chapel costs EUR 3.50, reduced EUR 3.00, free under 6. Groups of 8 or more must book.

A building designed around a rule. When Sixtus V moved the stairs here in 1589, Domenico Fontana had one problem to solve: a staircase that may only be ascended on the knees cannot also be the way up for everybody else. His answer was four flights arranged around the central Scala Santa — five parallel stairs climbing together to one landing, four of them ordinary.

That is an unusually honest piece of planning. The accommodation for people who will not or cannot kneel is not a side door added later; it is half the floor area, built in from the start, and it means the devotional act and the practical route happen in the same room at the same time.

The stairs themselves are the material fact. Twenty-eight white marble steps, in a building on extraterritorial property of the Holy See. In 1724 they were cased in wood by Benedict XIII to protect them from three centuries of knees, and in 2019 the covering came off after restoration.

At the head of the stairs is the oldest part. The Sancta Sanctorum, the Chapel of San Lorenzo in Palatio, keeps 13th-century frescoes and a Cosmatesque floor — inlaid discs and bands of coloured stone — arranged under Nicholas III, three centuries before the building that now fronts it.

The sanctuary is a container, and everything in it is older than it is.

The Sancta Sanctorum came first: the popes' private chapel, fitted with its Cosmatesque floor and thirteenth-century frescoes under Nicholas III. The stairs, by tradition, were already in Rome a thousand years before that — brought from Jerusalem around 326 by the Empress Helena, though the reference work is careful to call this a medieval legend rather than a record.

1589 is the year the two were put together. Sixtus V ordered the Holy Stairs reconstructed in their present location, before the Sancta Sanctorum, and Domenico Fontana built the structure that holds them — four flights around the central stair, climbing to the chapel's grille. The whole building is an arrangement for approaching one door.

The surface has been changed twice. Benedict XIII covered the marble in wood in 1724 for protection, and that casing stayed until 2019, when it was removed and the marble exposed following restoration work — the first time in nearly three hundred years that the stone itself was in the open.

Do I really have to go up on my knees? To use the Scala Santa itself, yes — the sanctuary's own words are that it is climbed exclusively on the knees and in silence. It also says anyone wanting to reach the upper floor on foot may use the lateral staircase, which is part of Fontana's 1589 design.

Is there a dress code? Yes: shoulders and knees must be covered.

Can I take photographs? No. The sanctuary permits no photographs, video or video calls.

How many steps? Twenty-eight, of white marble.

What does it cost? The stairs are free. The Sancta Sanctorum is EUR 3.50 full, EUR 3.00 reduced and for groups over twenty, per the sanctuary. Turismo Roma lists different categories; ask at the desk.

When does it close? Use the sanctuary's figures, not the tourist board's. Stairs: Mon-Sat 06.00-13.30 and 15.00-18.30, to 18.00 from November to March; Sundays and holidays from 07.00. Chapel: Mon-Sat 09.00-13.30 and 15.00-17.15, and closed on Sunday and religious-holiday mornings, open then only 15.00-17.15.

Where did the stairs come from? Tradition holds the Empress Saint Helena brought them from Jerusalem around 326, and that they are the stairs Jesus climbed in Pontius Pilate's palace. The reference work describes this as a medieval legend.

Are the steps wood or marble? Benedict XIII cased the marble in wood in 1724; the covering was removed and the marble exposed following restoration in 2019. Neither source states what is in place now.

What is in the chapel? The Sancta Sanctorum: relics, 13th-century frescoes, a Cosmatesque floor arranged under Nicholas III, and the Uronica — a Christ Pantocrator supposedly begun by Saint Luke and finished by an angel.

Do I need to book? No — the sanctuary says anyone who wishes may climb without a reservation. Only groups of more than twenty must book for the chapel.