Quo Vadis (church)
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Santa Maria in Palmis ( it, Chiesa di Santa Maria delle Piante; la, Sanctae Mariae in Palmis), also known as Chiesa del Domine Quo Vadis, is a small
church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a building for Christian religious activities * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian communal worship * Chris ...
southeast of
Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...
. It is located about some 800 m from
Porta San Sebastiano The Porta San Sebastiano is the largest and one of the best-preserved gates passing through the Aurelian Walls in Rome (Italy). History Originally known as the Porta Appia, the gate sat astride the Appian Way, the ''regina viarum'' (queen of th ...
, where the
Via Ardeatina The Via Ardeatina (Ardeatine Way) was an ancient road of Rome leading to the town of Ardea, after which it is named. Ardea lay 24 miles (39 kilometers) distant from Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , ...
branches off the
Appian Way The Appian Way (Latin and Italian language, Italian: ''Via Appia'') is one of the earliest and strategically most important Roman roads of the ancient Roman Republic, republic. It connected Rome to Brindisi, in southeast Italy. Its importance is ...
, on the site where, according to the
apocryphal Apocrypha are works, usually written, of unknown authorship or of doubtful origin. The word ''apocryphal'' (ἀπόκρυφος) was first applied to writings which were kept secret because they were the vehicles of esoteric knowledge considered ...
''
Acts of Peter The Acts of Peter is one of the earliest of the apocryphal Acts of the Apostles in Christianity, dating to the late 2nd century AD. The majority of the text has survived only in the Latin translation of the Codex Vercellensis, under the title ...
'',
Saint Peter Saint Peter; he, שמעון בר יונה, Šimʿōn bar Yōnāh; ar, سِمعَان بُطرُس, translit=Simʿa̅n Buṭrus; grc-gre, Πέτρος, Petros; cop, Ⲡⲉⲧⲣⲟⲥ, Petros; lat, Petrus; ar, شمعون الصفـا, Sham'un ...
met the risen
Christ Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label=Hebrew/Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other Names and titles of Jesus in the New Testament, names and titles), was ...
while Petrus was fleeing persecution in Rome. According to the tradition, Peter asked him, "Lord, where are you going?" ( la, Domine, quo vadis?). Christ answered, "I am going to Rome to be crucified again" ( la, Eo Romam iterum crucifigi).


History

There has been a sanctuary on the spot since the ninth century, but the current church is from 1637. The current façade was added in the 17th century. It has been supposed that the sanctuary might have been even more ancient, perhaps a Christian adaptation of some already existing
temple A temple (from the Latin ) is a building reserved for spiritual rituals and activities such as prayer and sacrifice. Religions which erect temples include Christianity (whose temples are typically called churches), Hinduism (whose temples ...
: the church is in fact located just in front of the sacred ''campus'' dedicated to
Rediculus Rediculus is an ancient Roman divinity. His cult had a temple near the Porta Capena, and a ''campus'' on the Appian Way. Origins and nature This divinity is probably one of Rome's ''lares'', a protector-god of the city. He is said to have appear ...
, the Roman "God of the Return". This ''campus'' hosted a sanctuary for the cult of the deity that received devotion by travellers before their departure, especially by those who were going to face long and dangerous journeys to far places like
Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...
,
Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with ...
or the East. Those travellers who returned also stopped to thank the god for the happy outcome of their journey. The presence of the Apostle Peter in this area, where he is supposed to have lived, appears to be confirmed in an epigraph in the
Catacombs of Saint Sebastian The Catacombs of Rome ( it, Catacombe di Roma) are ancient catacombs, underground burial places in and around Rome, of which there are at least forty, some rediscovered only in recent decades. Though most famous for Christian burials, either i ...
that reads ''Domus Petri'' ( en, House of Peter). An
epigram An epigram is a brief, interesting, memorable, and sometimes surprising or satirical statement. The word is derived from the Greek "inscription" from "to write on, to inscribe", and the literary device has been employed for over two mille ...
by
Pope Damasus I Pope Damasus I (; c. 305 – 11 December 384) was the bishop of Rome from October 366 to his death. He presided over the Council of Rome of 382 that determined the canon or official list of sacred scripture. He spoke out against major heresies ( ...
(366–384) in honor of Peter and
Paul Paul may refer to: *Paul (given name), a given name (includes a list of people with that name) *Paul (surname), a list of people People Christianity *Paul the Apostle (AD c.5–c.64/65), also known as Saul of Tarsus or Saint Paul, early Chris ...
reads: "You that are looking for the names of Peter and Paul, you must know that the saints have lived here." The two footprints on a marble slab at the center of the church — nowadays a copy of the original, which is kept in the nearby Basilica of San Sebastiano fuori le mura — are popularly held to be a miraculous sign left by Jesus.Erik Inglis, “Inventing Apostolic Impression Relics in Medieval Rome,” Speculum 96/2 (April, 2021), 309-66. It is to these footprints that the official name of the church alludes: ''palmis'' refers to the soles of Jesus' feet. It is likely that these footprints are actually the draft of an ancient Roman "
ex voto An ex-voto is a votive offering to a saint or to a divinity; the term is usually restricted to Christian examples. It is given in fulfillment of a vow (hence the Latin term, short for ''ex voto suscepto'', "from the vow made") or in gratitude o ...
", a tribute paid to the gods for the good outcome of a journey. There was an inscription above the front door on the church's façade which used to say: "Stop your walking, traveller, and enter this sacred temple in which you will find the footprint of our Lord Jesus Christ when He met with St. Peter who escaped from the prison. An alms for the wax and the oil is recommended in order to free some spirits from
Purgatory Purgatory (, borrowed into English via Anglo-Norman and Old French) is, according to the belief of some Christian denominations (mostly Catholic), an intermediate state after physical death for expiatory purification. The process of purgatory ...
."
Pope Gregory XVI Pope Gregory XVI ( la, Gregorius XVI; it, Gregorio XVI; born Bartolomeo Alberto Cappellari; 18 September 1765 – 1 June 1846) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 2 February 1831 to his death in 1 June 1846. He h ...
found the advertising tone of this inscription so inappropriate that he ordered its removal in 1845. There is also a modern column with a bust of
Henryk Sienkiewicz Henryk Adam Aleksander Pius Sienkiewicz ( , ; 5 May 1846 – 15 November 1916), also known by the pseudonym Litwos (), was a Polish writer, novelist, journalist and Nobel Prize laureate. He is best remembered for his historical novels, especi ...
, the Polish author of the famous historical fiction novel '' Quo Vadis: A Narrative of the Time of Nero'' (1886). It is said that Sienkiewicz was inspired to write his novel while sitting in this church. The church is currently administered by priests of the
Congregation of Saint Michael the Archangel The Congregation of Saint Michael the Archangel ( la, Congregatio Sancti Michaëlis Archangeli) abbreviated CSMA, also known as the Michaelites, is a Catholic clerical religious congregation of Pontifical Right for men (brothers and priests) found ...
.


See also

*
Quo vadis ''Quō vādis?'' (, ) is a Latin phrase meaning "Where are you marching?". It is also commonly translated as "Where are you going?" or, poetically, "Whither goest thou?" The phrase originates from the Christian tradition regarding Saint Pete ...
*
Saint Peter's tomb Saint Peter's tomb is a site under St. Peter's Basilica that includes several graves and a structure said by Vatican authorities to have been built to memorialize the location of Saint Peter's grave. St. Peter's tomb is alleged near the west end ...


References


External links

* * {{Authority control 17th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in Italy Roman Catholic churches in Rome Relics associated with Jesus Roman Catholic churches completed in 1637 Rome Q. IX Appio-Latino 1637 establishments in Italy