During the Templar period, the pope had a secret chapel known as the Holy of Holies – or Sancta Sanctorum – where precious and holy relics were kept. It was accessed via marble stairs (the Scala Santa) believed to have come from the palace of Pontius Pilate in Jerusalem, where Christ had been put on trial. In the Sancta Sanctorum, the pope believed he could truly come close to God. In the Middle Ages, it was claimed that the Ark of the Covenant was kept nearby.
I visited again recently and it’s a unique experience. Up the Scala Santa, the Roman Catholic faithful make their way up on their knees. They are convinced that the feet of Jesus once touched these cold marble steps. Once at the top, their entry to the Sancta Sanctorum is barred, though they can look through an iron grille, as you can see from this image I took on my smartphone from the other side.
I got access to the Sancta Sanctorum, richly decorated by the 13th century pope, Nicholas III. It was called the Holy of Holies in reference to a room in the Jewish Temple in Jerusalem that once housed the Ark of the Covenant. The Ark disappeared in the sixth century BC when the Babylonians sacked Jerusalem while the temple was never rebuilt after being destroyed by the Romans in 70CE.
There is an image of Christ behind the altar described as the Holy Saviour Acheropìta. That means not painted by human hands. Take a closer look below.
In a glass case to one side of the altar is a wooden fragment of the table from the Last Supper of Jesus where he broke bread with his disciples before the crucifixion (pictured below). But this is not the most incredible holy relic associated with this place. During the Crusades, the priests claimed to have the treasures of the long destroyed Jewish Temple in Jerusalem – where the Knights Templar were then based.
In the medieval period, the canons at the basilica of Saint John Lateran, across the road, claimed that they possessed the treasures of the Temple in Jerusalem, demolished by Roman soldiers after the First Jewish Revolt against the empire in 70CE. In a document titled in Latin Descriptio Lateranensis Ecclesiae, they listed among their holy relics: the Ark of the Covenant, the Temple Menorah (seven-branched candelabrum sacred to the Jews), and the rods of Moses and Aaron.
On Holy Thursday before Easter, the Ark of the Covenant was moved from the Basilica of Saint John Lateran to the Sancta Sanctorum where the pope consecrated the Eucharist host above the Ark. Like the High Priest in Jerusalem countless centuries before, he had the sole right to touch the Ark within the Holy of Holies.
The idea behind all of this was to project Saint John Lateran as the new Temple. The physical temple of the Jews in Jerusalem had been destroyed. But the spiritual temple lived on, renewed in Christ, with the pope as its high priest, and based in Rome. The Sancta Sanctorum was the new Holy of Holies.
However, if the priests of Saint John Lateran hoped to undermine the growing ascendancy of the Vatican, they failed. The popes eventually moved across the river Tiber to the Vatican.
If you would like to know more about the Knights Templar, then get your hands on a copy of my book: The Knights Templar – History & Mystery. Published by Pen & Sword and available on Amazon, Waterstones, Barnes & Noble, and WHSmith. Don’t miss out on your copy!
