Caput Mundi: The Middle Ages


Resurrected many times since it was originally built by Emperor Constantine in 315, the Basilica di San Giovanni in Laterano is a treasure trove of religious and architectural history. As the cathedral of the Bishop of Rome, it ranks above all other churches in the Catholic Church, including St. Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican City. Our local expert shares historical insights as you view the frescoes and bas-relief sculptures inside; be sure to look up at the unusual ceiling and the sumptuous transept, awe-inspiring in design and detail. Your pilgrimage continues with a visit to the 13th-century Cloisters, surrounded by graceful twisted columns of inlaid marble, and the adjacent Baptistery, the oldest free-standing baptistery in Rome, to see remarkable murals of marble mosaics and an Illuminated Manuscript from the Middle Ages containing the Fountain of Life, a Christian iconography symbol associated with baptism.


Excavations beneath the Baptistery uncovered the remains of a 1st-century Roman villa and an early 2nd-century bathhouse. Explore this underground neighborhood – a site not open to the general public and rarely seen by anyone, even local Romans! – on Tauck’s exclusive private tour today. Back above ground, cross the street to the Scala Santa, one of the holiest sites in Christendom, and believed to be the 28 steps that Jesus ascended in Pontius Pilate’s villa in Jerusalem, before they were allegedly brought to Rome by Constantine’s mother, Helen, in 326, and moved to their present location in 1589.


The Basilica di San Giovanni in Laterano (St. John Lateran) astounds with treasures inside and out – and underground


Call your travel agent or Tauck World Discovery at 800-468-2825 13


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