As the home of the
Pope
The pope ( la, papa, from el, πάππας, translit=pappas, 'father'), also known as supreme pontiff ( or ), Roman pontiff () or sovereign pontiff, is the bishop of Rome (or historically the patriarch of Rome), head of the worldwide Cathol ...
and the Catholic
curia
Curia (Latin plural curiae) in ancient Rome referred to one of the original groupings of the citizenry, eventually numbering 30, and later every Roman citizen was presumed to belong to one. While they originally likely had wider powers, they came ...
, as well as the locus of many sites and relics of veneration related to apostles, saints and Christian martyrs, Rome had long been a destination for pilgrims. The
Via Francigena The Via Francigena () is an ancient road and pilgrimage route running from the cathedral city of Canterbury in England, through France and Switzerland, to Rome and then to Apulia, Italy, where there were ports of embarkation for the Holy Land. It w ...
was an ancient pilgrim route between England and Rome. It was customary to end the pilgrimage with a visit to the tombs of Saints Peter and Paul. Periodically, some were moved to travel to Rome for the spiritual benefits accrued during a
Jubilee
A jubilee is a particular anniversary of an event, usually denoting the 25th, 40th, 50th, 60th, and the 70th anniversary. The term is often now used to denote the celebrations associated with the reign of a monarch after a milestone number of ...
. These indulgences sometimes required a visit to a specific church or churches. Pilgrims need not visit each church.
[
]
Origin of the itinerary
The tradition of visiting all seven churches was started by Philip Neri
Philip Romolo Neri ( ; it, italics=no, Filippo Romolo Neri, ; 22 July 151526 May 1595), known as the "Second Apostle of Rome", after Saint Peter, was an Italian priest noted for founding a society of secular clergy called the Congregation of ...
around 1553 in order to combine conviviality and the sharing of a common religious experience through discovering of the heritage of the early Saints. Neri drew up an itinerary that included visits to St. Peter's Basilica, then St. Paul Outside-the-Walls, St. Sebastian's, St. John Lateran, Holy Cross-in-Jerusalem, St. Lawrence-Outside-the Walls and finally St. Mary Major. He and a few friends and acquaintances would gather before dawn and set out on their walk. At each church, there would be prayer, hymn singing and a brief sermon by Neri.["St. Philip's 'Picnic'", The Pontifical Congregation of the Oratory]
/ref>
A simple meal was pre-arranged at the gardens of the Villa Mattei. The Mattei family opened their grounds for pilgrims to rest in and provided them with bread, wine, cheese, eggs, apples and salami. During these "picnics", musicians would play and singers would perform. These pilgrimages were designed to be a counterpoint to the raucous behavior of Carnival.[
]
Churches
There are seven Holy Year churches in Rome (listed according to the order of precedence):
* Basilica of St. John Lateran ( Major Papal archbasilica)
* St. Peter's Basilica (Major Papal basilica)
*Basilica of Saint Paul Outside the Walls
The Papal Basilica of Saint Paul Outside the Walls ( it, Basilica Papale di San Paolo fuori le Mura), commonly known as Saint Paul's Outside the Walls, is one of Rome's four major papal basilicas, along with the basilicas of Saint John in the ...
(Major Papal basilica)
* Basilica of St. Mary Major (Major Papal basilica)
* Basilica of Saint Lawrence outside the Walls (Minor Papal basilica)
* Basilica of the Holy Cross in Jerusalem (Minor basilica
In the Catholic Church, a basilica is a designation given by the Pope to a church building. Basilicas are distinguished for ceremonial purposes from other churches. The building need not be a basilica in the architectural sense (a rectangular ...
)
* Sanctuary of Our Lady of Divine Love** (Shrine
A shrine ( la, scrinium "case or chest for books or papers"; Old French: ''escrin'' "box or case") is a sacred or holy space dedicated to a specific deity, ancestor, hero, martyr, saint, daemon, or similar figure of respect, wherein they ...
)
**formerly St. Sebastian Outside-the-Walls (Minor basilica), replaced on pilgrimage route by Pope John Paul II in the year 2000.
St. Peter's Basilica and the Basilica of Saint Paul Outside the Walls
The Papal Basilica of Saint Paul Outside the Walls ( it, Basilica Papale di San Paolo fuori le Mura), commonly known as Saint Paul's Outside the Walls, is one of Rome's four major papal basilicas, along with the basilicas of Saint John in the ...
were designated as pilgrim churches by Pope Boniface VIII
Pope Boniface VIII ( la, Bonifatius PP. VIII; born Benedetto Caetani, c. 1230 – 11 October 1303) was the head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 24 December 1294 to his death in 1303. The Caetani family was of baronial ...
for the first Holy Year in 1300. Pope Clement VI
Pope Clement VI ( la, Clemens VI; 1291 – 6 December 1352), born Pierre Roger, was head of the Catholic Church from 7 May 1342 to his death in December 1352. He was the fourth Avignon pope. Clement reigned during the first visitation of the B ...
added the Basilica of St. John Lateran in 1350 and Pope Gregory XI
Pope Gregory XI ( la, Gregorius, born Pierre Roger de Beaufort; c. 1329 – 27 March 1378) was head of the Catholic Church from 30 December 1370 to his death in March 1378. He was the seventh and last Avignon pope and the most recent French po ...
added Santa Maria Maggiore
The Basilica of Saint Mary Major ( it, Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore, ; la, Basilica Sanctae Mariae Maioris), or church of Santa Maria Maggiore, is a Major papal basilica as well as one of the Seven Pilgrim Churches of Rome and the larges ...
in 1375. These are the four major Papal Basilicas in Rome. Each contains a Holy Door, opened only during official Jubilee years.[Smith, Joan Merkel. "Jubilee in Rome: A Pilgrim's Report", ''St. Anthony's Messenger'']
/ref> Sanctuary of Our Lady of Divine Love was added by Pope John Paul II
Pope John Paul II ( la, Ioannes Paulus II; it, Giovanni Paolo II; pl, Jan Paweł II; born Karol Józef Wojtyła ; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 1978 until his ...
for the Great Jubilee
The Great Jubilee in 2000 was a major event in the Catholic Church, held from Christmas Eve (December 24) 1999 to Epiphany (January 6) 2001. Like other previous Jubilee years, it was a celebration of the mercy of God and forgiveness of sins. ...
of 2000, replacing St. Sebastian Outside-the-Walls. However, many pilgrims still prefer the pre-2000 seven basilicas and so also attend St. Sebastian's in addition to the ones required for the indulgence, or even instead of the Santuario (given that the walk from the Santuario to the Inner City takes at least a half-day just for itself, and that there is an indulgence for visiting any of the four major basilicas anyway).Some pilgrims walk parts of it and use taxis or public transportation for the rest.
The Seven Church Walk is traditionally done on Wednesday of Holy Week.
There is also a Seven Churches tour in Turkey that visits all seven of the Christian churches mentioned in the Book of Revelation, including the church at Ephesus.
Classic Seven Pilgrim Churches of Rome
image:San Giovanni in Laterano - Rome.jpg, San Giovanni in Laterano
image:Basilica di San Pietro in Vaticano September 2015-1a.jpg, Basilica di San Pietro in Vaticano
image:Roma San Paolo fuori le mura BW 1.JPG, San Paolo fuori le mura
image:Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore - Roma.jpg, Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore
image:Basilica of Saint Lawrence outside the Walls.jpg, Basilica of Saint Lawrence outside the Walls
image:Santa croce di gerusalemme at Night.jpg, Santa Croce di Gerusalemme
image:San Sebastiano fuori le mura (Rome).jpg, San Sebastiano fuori le mura
Guidebooks to Rome
Guidebooks have existed since Ancient times. A periplus
A periplus (), or periplous, is a manuscript document that lists the ports and coastal landmarks, in order and with approximate intervening distances, that the captain of a vessel could expect to find along a shore. In that sense, the periplus wa ...
was a manuscript listing ports and coastal landmarks, in order and with approximate intervening distances, that the captain of a vessel could expect to find along a shore. An itinerarium was an Ancient Roman road map in the form of a showing cities, villages (vici) and other stops, with the intervening distances.
The first such guidebooks for Medieval Rome were compiled in the 12th century to address the needs of travelers to Rome. The Seven Pilgrim Churches of Rome are listed in the following order in the guide by Franzini (1595): San Giovanni Laterano, St Peter's, San Paolo fuori le mura, Santa Maria Maggiore, San Lorenzo fuori le mura, San Sebastiano, and Santa Croce in Gerusalemme. Giovanni Baglione
Giovanni Baglione (1566 – 30 December 1643) was an Italian Late Mannerist and Early Baroque painter and art historian. He is best remembered for his acrimonious and damaging involvement with the slightly younger artist Caravaggio and ...
in his book list nine major churches of Rome, adding somewhat peculiarly the church of Santa Maria Annunziata dei Gonfalone and the trio of churches known once as ''alle Tre Fontane'', and located at the site of St Paul's martyrdom: Santi Vincenzo e Anastasio alle Tre Fontane, Santa Maria Scala Coeli and San Paolo alle Tre Fontane.[''The nine churches of Rome'']
''Le nove chiese di Roma''
Giovanni Baglione, 1639)
Guides prior to the mid-18th century are intended for those on religious pilgrimage, while those afterward include guides for those with a cultural interest in antiquity and art, while maintaining a distance from focus on devotional aspects.
While these continued to have importance, by the 18th century, the storied history as well as its treasures of Italian art, also drew cultural pilgrims on a Grand Tour
The Grand Tour was the principally 17th- to early 19th-century custom of a traditional trip through Europe, with Italy as a key destination, undertaken by upper-class young European men of sufficient means and rank (typically accompanied by a tu ...
of Europe that almost always included Rome. Early proponents included Richard Lassels
Richard Lassels (also ''Lascelles'') (–1668) was a Roman Catholic priest and a travel writer. Lassels was a tutor to several of the English nobility, and traveled through Italy five times. He is best known for his work, ''The Voyage of Italy, or ...
in his 1670 book on a ''Voyage to Italy''. These writings now serve a role in scholarship about the history of Rome, present and past. Among the pre-modern guides or itineraries to Rome, are:
*''Mirabilia Urbis Romae
''Mirabilia Urbis Romae'' ("Marvels of the City of Rome") is a much-copied medieval Latin text that served generations of pilgrims and tourists as a guide to the city of Rome. The original, which was written by a canon of St Peter's, dates from ...
'' (1140s), Anonymous.
*'' Descriptio urbis Romae'' (ca.1433), Leon Battista Alberti
Leon Battista Alberti (; 14 February 1404 – 25 April 1472) was an Italian Renaissance humanist author, artist, architect, poet, priest, linguist, philosopher, and cryptographer; he epitomised the nature of those identified now as polymaths. ...
*'' Roma Instaurata'', (written 1444 printed 1481), Flavio Biondo
Flavio Biondo ( Latin Flavius Blondus) (1392 – June 4, 1463) was an Italian Renaissance humanist historian. He was one of the first historians to use a three-period division of history (Ancient, Medieval, Modern) and is known as one of the ...
*
*
*
*''Studio di Pittura scoltura et architettura nelle Chiese di Roma'' (1674), Abate Filippo Titi.
*
*
*
Antiquae Notitia or the antiquities of Rome
' in two parts. (1713), Basil Kennett.
*''Indice istorico del gran prospetto di Roma: ovvero Itinerario Istruttivo.'' (1765) Giuseppe Vasi
Giuseppe Vasi (27 August 1710 – 16 April 1782) was an Italian engraver and architect, best known for his '' vedute''.
Biography
He was born in Corleone, Sicily and later, around 1736, moved to Rome. After a period of intense visits and studies, ...
.
*''Nuova Descrizione di Roma Antica e Moderna e de suoi Contorni'' Volume 1 (1820), Carlo Fea.
See also
* Holy door
* Jubilee (Christianity)
A jubilee is a special year of remission of sins and universal pardon. In '' Leviticus'', a jubilee year ( he, יובל ''yūḇāl'') is mentioned to occur every 50th year; during which slaves and prisoners would be freed, debts would be forgi ...
* Major basilica
* Seven Churches Visitation The Seven Churches Visitation is a Christian, especially Roman Catholic, Lenten tradition to visit seven churches on the evening of Maundy Thursday. Following the Mass of the Lord's Supper, the Blessed Sacrament is placed on the Altar of Repose in ...
* Station days
Station days were days of fasting in the early Christian Church, associated with a procession to certain prescribed churches in Rome, where the Mass and Vespers would be celebrated to mark important days of the liturgical year. Although other ...
References
External links
The Vatican: spirit and art of Christian Rome
a book from The Metropolitan Museum of Art Libraries (fully available online as PDF), which contains material on these churches
{{DEFAULTSORT:Seven Pilgrim Churches Of Rome
Christian buildings and structures in the Roman Empire
Pilgrimage accounts