Overview
A stairway that, according to legend, is the one Jesus walked up during his trial at Pilate's praetorium. It is said to have been transferred from Jerusalem to Rome by Saint Helena, Constantine's mother, and initially placed in the Patriarchate, the former residence of the Popes inside the Lateran Palaces. In 1589, Sixtus V commissioned Domenico Fontana to erect a new building to connect it with the Sancta Sanctorum, the popes' private chapel.
The Scala Sancta, which can only be climbed on one's knees, leads to the Chapel of San Lorenzo and the Sancta Sanctorum, which can only be viewed through the iron grating. Consisting of 28 marble steps with wood panelling, it has walls and vaults frescoed with stories from the Old Testament and stories of Christ by G.B. Ricci, Giacomo Stella, Paul Brill, Giovanni Baglione and others.
