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ITINERARY 6 - Baptistery of San Giovanni, Church of San Giovanni in Laterano, Catacombs of Marcellino and Pietro.

Following the Via dei Fori Imperiali (again starting from Piazza Venezia), and circling the Colosseum, we reach Via San Giovanni in Laterano on which the church of San Clemente is situated. The basilica in fact consists of two superimposed churches: the upper one with a baroque facade by Fontana and a lower one (4th century), interred below ground to permit the construction of the later church built over it (12th century). The interior of the upper church, remodelled in the 17th century, has a nave and two aisles divided by ancient columns. It contains a 12th century Schola Cantorum; a 12th century mosaic of the Triumpf of the Cross in the apse; and 15th century frescoes by Masolino da Panicale in the Chapel of St.Catherine of Alexandria. From the sacristy we descend to the lower basilica which retains a series of valuable frescoes. Nearby, at the beginning of the Via dei Quattro Santi Coronati, is the church of the same name, dating back to the 4th century but variously transformed. Of particular interest is its fine early 13th century cloister. The church preserves its ancient granite columns and cosmatesque floor. Below is a cript where the relics of some martyr saints are preserved. We continue to the Piazza San Giovanni in Laterano, at the centre of which stands the Egyptian Obelisk, the tallest of the thirteen obelisks extant in Rome. Brought here from the Circus Maximus in 1588, it dates to the 15th century B.C. To its right is the Lateran Baptistery, which has ancient origins, it was erected by Constantine. At the centre of its polygonal interior is a large font in green basalt in which the sacrament of baptism was administered by immersion. It is surrounded by a colonnade of porphyry columns supporting a cornice with smaller white marble columns above, and four chapels with wonderful mosaics dating from the 5th and 7th centuries.

SAN GIOVANNI IN LATERANO BASILICA: This basilica is second only to St.Peter in importance. It was erected at the beginning of the 4th century over an area of the family palace of the Laterani donated to the church by the emperor Constantine. Damaged by fires and earthquakes, sacked during the barbarian invasions, the basilica has been continuously reconstructed, enlarged and enriched with precious decorations and works of art. It was extensively remodelled in the baroque style by Borromini in the 17th century. Its main facade was raised in the 18th century by Alessandro Galilei: simple and yet majestic, it consists of a single orderof huge pilasters supporting a ponderous entablature with a balustrade above, topped, against the skyline, by 15 statues of Christ and flanking saints. Below is the portico, providing access to the five entrances to the basilica. The middle one has roman bronze doors brought from the Curia in the Roman Forum; the one to the far right is the Porta Santa. The huge interior is divided into a nave and four aisles. The nave is topped by a sumptuous gilt wooden ceiling (16th century), and has a fine cosmatesque floor. Large niches containing statues of the 12 Apostles are placed between the piers of the nave. Among the treasures contained in the basilica, we may cite: the magnificent tabernacle placed over the papal altar sculpted in the gothic style by Giovanni di Stefano in the 14th century and enshrining the Heads of St.Peter and Paul; the delicately carved bronze Tomb of Martin V; the transepte stored by Giacomo della Porta, decorated with frescoes which are genuine masterpieces of 16th century art; the apse with 13th century mosaics by Jacopo Turriti and Jacopo da Camerino; and, in the left aisle, the elegant Corsini Chapel designed by Alessandro Galilei (1734). On the first pillar to the left in the intermediate aisle to the right is a fragmentary fresco of Boniface VIII proclaiming the Jubilee in 1300 attributed to Giotto. At the foot of the aisle to the far left is the door leading into the beautiful cosmatesque Cloister, the work of the Vassalletto family. On the right flank of the basilica is the Lateran Palace. Pope Sixtus V commissioned the architect Domenico Fontana in 1586 to reconstruct it completely over the ruins of the former papal palace the gift of Constantine with the intention of establishing the summer residence of the Popes in it; an aim that was never realised. The palace previously housed the Lateran Museums, comprising the Christian, Profane and Missionary Ethnological collections, which have now been transferred to the Vatican. The interior, recently restored, is richly frescoed (the painters involved in its decoration included Baldassarre Croce, Cesare Nebbia and Giovanni Battista Ricci). In a building on the other side of the square is the Scala Santa: the staircaise which, according to tradition, was ascended by Christ on his way to be judged by Pontius Pilate. The building was erected by Domenico Fontana for Sixtus V in the 16th century as a fitting setting to house the Chapel of St.Laurence: the papal chapel. Richly decorated with works of art, the chapel contains Christian relics of great value. For this reason it is known as the Sancta Sanctorum. Over the altar is a portrait of Jesus Christ, which is invested with peculiar sanctity, because it is thought to have been begun by St.Luke and finished by an angel: hence the name by which it is known, Acheiropoeton, or "picture made without hands". In the piazza facing the main facade of St.John Lateran is a monument to Francis of Assisi. The adjacent Porta San Giovanni, one of the gateways in the Aurelian Walls, marks the starting-point of the Via Appia Nuova, by means of which we can reach the famous little towns in the Alban Hills known as the Castelli Romani (Castelgandolfo, summer residence of the Pope; Marino and Frascati, famous for their wines). From the Piazza San Giovanni in Laterano we now take the Viale Carlo Felice to the Piazza Santa Croce in Gerusalemme on which the same name basilica stands. Dating back as early as the 4th century, it was completely remodelled in the baroque era. It contains the relic of the Cross of Jesus Christ (hence its name). A short distance away is the Piazza Porta Maggiore where we find one of the most impressive roman gateways of the city, the Porta Maggiore (erected by the emperor Claudius to carry Claudian Aqueduct in 52). Here too, on the same piazza, is the basilica of the same name, an underground sanctuary which was only discovered in 1917. It can be dated to the early years of the 1st century. It contains a number of notable mythological wall paintings. We can conclude our itinerary by visiting the Catacombs of Marcellinus and Petrus, which can be reached by way of the Via Casilina, which starts out from the piazza.

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